Self-Expression and Health. 

AMERICANIZED 
DELSARTE CULTURE 

/ 



BY 



EMILY M. BISHOP 



To train the mind and neglect the body is to produce a 
cripple.— Plato. 

Man knows himself only so far as lie makes himself 
objective. The great word with Froebel was self-expres 
sion— Susan T. Blow, in ''Symbolic Education:' 



FIFTH EDITION, REVISED /<\S$ C0yy^>\ 

I MAY 311895 

chautauqua, n. y. 

Published by the Author *^ 

1895 



frtf 



in 



V 



Copyright, 1892, 1895, 
By Emily M. Bishop. 



Press of. Ertgar S. Werner, 108 East 16th St., New York. 



TO 

MY PUPILS 
THIS LITTLE BOOK IS CORDIALLY DEDICATED. 



CONTENTS. 



Preface 9 

I. 
Hints for Study 11 

II. 

Gymnastics of Expression — Lesson Talk . . 22 

III. 
Health and Grace — Lesson Talk 30 

IV. 
How We Stand — Lesson Tcdk 40 

V. 
Poise — Exercises for Practice 47 

VI. 
Relaxation, Receptivity, Recuperation — 

Lesson Talk 60 

VII. 

How to Rest — Exercises for Practice .... 70 

VIII. 

The Breath of Life— Lesson Talk 83 

~~~ IX. 

Respiration — Exercises for Practice .... 91 

X. 
Walking — Exercises for Practice 103 



viii Contents. 

XL 

Sitting: Rising — Exercises for Practice . . . 116 

XII. 
Corpulency— Lesson Talk 124 

XIII. 
Evading Old Age — Lesson Talk 129 

XIV. 
The Secret of Symmetry and Youth fulness — 
Exercises for Practice 135 

XV. 
Insomnia — Lesson Talk 152 

XVI. 
Wooing Morpheus— Exercises for Practice. . 162 

XVII. 
Nervousness — A Cause and a Cure — Lesson 

Talk 1T1 

XVIII. - 
Expression: Repression — Lesson Talk .... 182 

XIX. 

Suggestions to the Sick and Others 191 

Bxplanatory Note 199 



PREFACE TO REVISED EDITION. 



HP HIS little volume was originally written to 
-*- meet the demand of those who studied with 
Miss Dorothy Bishop and myself for a book that 
should contain the "whys, hows, and wherefores " 
of our preliminary course in Self-Expression and 
Health culture. Not only former pupils, but 
unknown friends— physicians, teachers, students 
and many others— have generously expressed 
appreciation of its helpful teachings. The desire 
that this helpfulness may continue and increase 
has prompted this revision of the book and the 
insertion of a new chapter, " Hints for Study." 

The suggestions contained in that chapter will, 
it is believed, make the book more available as a 
text-book for schools, for classes in physical educa- 
tion and in elocution. A true voice and a natural 
use of it are impossible if the physical instrument 
of expression— the body— lacks in power, elasticity 
and responsiveness. In the Chautauqua School 
of Expression (Chautauqua Assembly. Chautauqua. 



x , Preface. 

N. Y.), Self -Expression and Health culture is found 
to be an important preparation for higher literary 
and dramatic interpretation. 

The exercises herein are intended to meet the 
varied needs of the different members of general 
classes; such classes being usually composed of 
grandmothers, mothers and daughters— with an 
occasional gentleman. In order to make the 
teaching simple and direct, all technical termi- 
nology has been avoided, and a colloquial style 
preferred; every exercise is explained in detail 
and particular cautions are given regarding 
incorrect or careless practicing . 

The Lesson Talks are reports of informal class 
lectures and should be studied in connection with 
the exercises for practice, as they relate to physi- 
ological and psychological conditions. 

Acknowledgment is made to Miss Gwyneth 
King, my pupil and assistant teacher, for valuable 
aid in this revision. 

It is hoped that all who read this little book 
may gain new inspiration to make the body a fit 
"temple for the indwelling soul." 

Emily M. Bishop. 



SELF-EXPRESSION AND HEALTH. 



i. 

HINTS FOR STUDY. 

All time and money spent in training the voice and the 
body is an investment that pays a larger interest than 
any other. 

—Gladstone. 

He who does not take time for exercise will have to take 
time for illness. 

—Lord Derby. 

1 ' It is not expected that the exercises herein 
given will all be practiced every day. The par- 
ticular benefits to be derived from each exercise 
have been carefully stated ; each person should 
make out his individual ' Day's Order ' for prac- 
tice by selecting* such exercises as especially meet 
his needs." 

The above suggestions, which appeared in 
former editions of this book, have proved inade- 
quate to the needs of those who have studied 



12 Self- Expression and Health. 

with us and who desire to continue the work by 
themselves. Many persons have asked for par- 
ticular directions for individual practice ; others 
have declared that, rather than attempt to arrange 
a list of exercises for daily practice, they had 
practiced the exercises in the order given in the 
book. 

The arrangement in the book is in logical order 
in relation to the subjects treated— all of the ex- 
ercises for relaxation being under that topic, all 
of the exercises for walking being under that 
topic, and so on, irrespective of cumulative effects. 
Obviously, there can be no natural sequence as 
regards practice, nor any relation to special re- 
sults desired by different individuals, in such an 
arrangement of exercises. Therefore, that great- 
er benefit may result from systematic individual 
practice, a list— Exercises for Special Purposes— 
and three different classifications of exercises — 
Series L, II. and III.— for general practice, are 
given below. 

It is suggested that Series I. be practiced ex- 
clusively each day for two weeks, followed by 
Series II. and Series III., each for the same length 



Hints for Stud//. 13 

of time; and then, that this same order be re- 
peated. In this way, there will be sufficient va- 
riety to maintain one's interest, and such order of 
practice will make evident improvement in exe- 
cution and results ; for instance, no one, who has 
regularly practiced each of the three series for 
two weeks, can fail to see a marked improvement 
when Series I. is taken up the second time. 
" Practice makes perfect." 

A general outline for daily practice should con- 
sist first, of some relaxing exercise to free the 
body from all restriction; then, some energizing 
ones to invigorate all the processes ; and last of 
all, some harmonious ones to tranquilize the 
nerves. 

How much should one practice each day? De- 
vote from ten to thirty minutes to special prac- 
tice and the remainder of the day to general 
practice— to living the truth in bodily expression, 
which is the only belling practice. At all times, 
sit well, stand well, walk well, avoid jerky, irri- 
tating movements, relax all parts of the body that 
are not energized for some definite purpose. 



14 Self -Expression, and Health. 

FOR GENERAL PRACTICE. 

SERIES I. 
For muscular freedom:— Exercises xv., ix., x. 
For invigoratiou :— -Exercises xxxii. , xxxi v. , 
xxx., xix. , xvii. 

For harmony of movement: — Exercises xxv., 
xvi., xxxv., xviii. 

SERIES II. 

For muscular freedom :— Exercises vi., vii., xiv., 
xv., ii. 

For in vigoration : — Exercises i. , xxii. , xxix. , xx. , 
xxx vii. 

For harmony of movement: — Exercises v., 
xxvii., xxxiii., xxiii., xii. 

SERIES III. 

For invigoration :— Exercises iv. , xxxvi. , xxiv. , 
xxxi., xxL, xl. 

For muscular freedom: — Exercises xi.,viii., xiii., 
xv. 

For harmony of movement :— Exercises xxvi., 
xxxiv., xxviii., xli., xlii. 



Hints for Study. 1 5 

EXERCISES FOR SPECIAL PURPOSES. 

To develop the lungs and chest :— Exercises 
xv., xvii., xx., xxi., xxii., xxx., xxxi. 

To prevent and reduce corpulency: — Exercises 
xiv., xv., xix., xx., xxi., xxx., xxxii., xxxiii., 
xxxiv., xxxvi., xxxvii. 

To allay nervousness :— Exercises iii., vii., ix., 
xi., xh., xv., xvi., xxv., xlii. 

To promote digestion: — Exercises xiv., xvii., 
xix., xx., xxi., xxx., xxxiii., xxxvi., xxxvii. 

To establish a natural standing poise : — Exercises 
i., ii., iii., iv., v., xxiii., xxi v. 

To establish a natural sitting poise : — Exercises 
xiv., xvii., xx., xxvii., xxviii. 

To strengthen the leg muscles and ankles: — 
Exercises iv., v., xxiii., xxix., xxxii., xxxiii., 
xxxiv., xxxv., xl. 

To overcome round shoulders :— Exercises xvii., 
xx., xxii., xxx. 



16 Self- Expression and Health. 

To secure good carriage :— Exercises i. , iv. , v. , 
xiii., xxiii., xxiv., xxv., xxvi. 

To relieve insomnia: — Exercises xi., xii., xv., 
xvi., xxv., xl., xii., xlii. 

To make the back flexible :— Exercises x. , xxvii. . 
xxviii. , xxxvii. , xxxix. 

To increase and equalize circulation of the 
blood: — Exercises vi., xv., xvii., xxi., xxii., xxix., 
xxx., xxxi., xxxvi., xxxvii., xl. 

To counteract stooping at the waist :— Exercises 
xx., xxii., xxx., xxxiii., xxxiv., xxxvii. 

To make the waist muscles strong and supple : — 
Exercises xiv. , xxi., xxxvi., xxxvii., xxxix. 

To increase power through breathing: — Exer- 
cises xvi. , xvii. , xviii. , xix. , xx. , xxii. , xxix. , xxx. , 
xxxi., xxxvii. 

Forrest: — Exercises vii., viii., ix., x., xi., xii.. 
xv., xlii. 



TO TEACHERS. 

That this book may be more available as a text - 
book for class use, an outline of lessons is submit- 
ted. This outline is given as a suggestion only ; 
it is not expected that it will be literally followed. 
Each teacher will, of course, modify and adapt it 
to meet the needs of different classes. 

All the exercises in the book are included in this 
outline of twenty lessons, but they could to ad- 
vantage be extended over a year's teaching. Not 
until these fundamental exercises are thoroughly 
mastered— so thoroughly that the results have be- 
come incorporated in one's life— is a person ready 
for advanced or, so-called, artistic physical train- 
ing. 

The minute description of each exercise, and the 
remarks and cautions regarding it, are specially 
for the aid and guidance of teachers. 



18 Self-Expression and Health. 

I. LESSON.— Standing. 

Exercises i. , iv. , iii. , xx. 
Read Chapter IV. to paragraph beginning 
* ' Expression in Attitudes. " 

II. LESSON. — Standing, continued. 

Review exercises in I. Lesson ; in addition, 
Exercises v. , ix. , ii. , xvii. 

Read before next lesson first half of Chap- 
ter VI. 

III. LESSON.— Resting. 

Review exercises in I. and II. Lessons; in 
addition, Exercises vi., vii., xiv., xxxix. 

Read before next lessons last half of Chapter 
VI. 

IV LESSON.— Resting, continued. 

Review Exercises xvii. , xiv. , vii. , xx. ; in 
addition, Exercises viii. , x. , xxii. , xv. 
Read before next lesson Chapter III. 

V. LESSON.— General Review. 

Pupils give and explain the different exer- 
cises of the preceding lessons. 

Illustrate good and bad standing-poise. 

Read before next lesson Chapter XI. to Ex- 
ercise xxvii. 

VI. LESSON.— Sitting. 

Review Exercises xiv., xxii., ix. Analyze 



Hints for Study. 19 

different ways of sitting, noting how each af- 
fects the chest, spine and vital organs. Prac- 
tice Exercises xxvii., xxxviii., xxi. 
Read before next lesson, Chapter VIII. 

VII. LESSON.— Breathing. 

Review Exercises v., xx., xxi., xv. Dis- 
cuss different kinds of breathing, the meaning 
and effect of each. Practice Exercises xvi. , 
xviii., xl. 

VIII. LESSON.— Poising. 

Review Exercises in I. and VII. Lessons : in 
addition, Exercises xiii. and xxxiii. 
Read before next lesson, Chapter X. 

IX. LESSON.— Walking. 

Review Exercises xiii., xxxiii., xxvii., 
xxviii. ; in addition, Exercises xxxiii. , xxv. 

X. LESSON.— General Review. 

Read before next lesson, Chapter XII. 

XL LESSON— Corpulency. 

Review Exercises xxiii., xxv., viii., iii. 
Class lecture on the general effects of exer- 
cise, particularly of upward movements of the 
arms and shoulders. Practice Exercises xix. . 
xxx. 

Read before next lesson, Chapter XIII. 



30 Self -Expression and Health. 

XII. LESSON.— Corpulency, continued. 

Review Exercises xix., xxx., xxxiii., xxxix., 
vii. ; in addition, Exercises xxxii. and xxxvii. 

XIII. LESSON.— Walking, continued. 
Review Exercises xxiii., xxiv., xv , xxv. ; 

in addition, Exercises xxvi. and xi. 
Read before next lesson, Chapter XI. 

XIV. LESSON.— Rising and Sitting. 

Review Exercises xxi., xiv., xxviii. ; in ad- 
dition, Exercises xxix. and xxxiv. 

XV. LESSON.— General Review. 

Individual practice; questions by students 
and by teacher. 

Read before next lesson, first half of Chap- 
ter XVII. 

XVI. LESSON.— Energizing. 

Review and classify all the energizing exer- 
cises in the preceding lessons; in addition, 
Exercises xii. and xxxi. 

Read last half of Chapter XII. before next 
lesson. 

XVII. LESSON.— Nervousness. 

Discuss psychological and physiological as- 
pects of nervousness. Review Exercises xvii., 
xvi., xv., xxv., xi., xxxi., xii.; in addition. 
Exercises xxxvi. and xxxviii. 

Read Chapter XV. before next lesson. 



Hints for Study. $\ 

XVIII. LESSON-.— Insomnia. 

Discuss Chapter XV. Review Exercises xl., 
xxvi., xxxi.. xi.. xii. ; in addition, Exercises 
xli. and xlii. 

Read last half of Chapter IV. before next 
lesson. 

XIX. LESSON.— Poising, continued. 

Review Exercises iv., v.. xxi., xxx.. xxxii., 
xxxiii., xxxiv.. xxxvii. ; in addition, Exercise 

XXXV. 

XX. LESSON.— General Review. 

Have different pupils present and illustrate 
the various subjects of the preceding lessons. 
' as standing, walking, resting, corpulency. 



il He is the beat physician who is Vnebest teacher 
of ijym nasties. " — Galen. 



II. 

GYMNASTICS OF EXPRESSION. 



LESSON TALK. 

Progress in physical education, as elsewhere, is impos- 
sible if we limit ourselves to respect for traditions, to ser- 
vile imitation of former things. 

—Popular Science Monthly. 

HHHREE different forms of partial culture have 
A characterized three distinct eras in civiliza- 
tion. The education of the Greeks sought phys- 
ical perfection primarily. The sculptured heroes 
and gods of that age are to-day recognized as 
ideals of physical beauty, proportion and expres- 
sion. In the Dark Ages came the reaction from 
the body -worshipping Greek age. During this 
second epoch, the physical man was despised and 
neglected, and intellectual darkness prevailed 
while religious asceticism was exalted. With 
the Reformation came the deification of the intel- 



Gymnastics of Expression. 23 

lect, attended by a partial neglect of the spiritual 
nature and a disregard of the physical. 

Each of these ages dwarfed or overdeveloped 
man in some respect. It is believed that we are 
now on the threshold of the age of symmetrical 
culture ; a culture that seeks the harmonious use, 
expression and growth of all the powers. Man is 
a unit ; one in being but three in manifestation, 
No side of his nature can be neglected without 
ultimate detriment to the entire man. All 
branches of education should be related to the 
final product and each branch should complement 
the others. 

Bodily training that produces physical develop- 
ment only is inadequate to the present demands. 
Self-Expression and Health culture seeks first to 
emancipate people from the bondage of wrong 
habits, from the influence of heredity, and from 
the effects of one-sided education. It teaches the 
natural use of all parts of the body. Not only 
does it strengthen and symmetrically develop the 
entire organism, but it directs the action of the 
nerve-force and shows how to reserve and to re- 
plenish it. This culture recognizes that all move- 



24 Self -Expression and Health. 

ments are primarily from within, outward; that 
every movement is the manifestation of a thought, 
of an emotion, or of the unconscious action of some 
nerve-centre; but it also recognizes that bodily 
movements, consciously made, react upon the 
inner directing powers. To obtain a wholesome 
reactionary effect from the exercises, principles of 
psychology as well as of physiology are applied to 
this training. 

The questiou is frequently asked, ' ' Wherein do 
Americanized Delsarte gymnastics differ from 
other systems of physical exercise ? " They dif- 
fer materially from all other systems: first, in 
their ultimate objects; second, in the means of 
attaining those objects. 

The physiological, or functional, effect of exer- 
cise is growth, or the reconstruction of the body. 
Action is excited by the tearing down of the tis- 
sues of the body and the pressure for the removal 
of the debris; thus exercise is forced upon crea- 
tures by the facts of decay and repair, which con- 
stitute growth. Exercise, in turn, promotes 
growth by facilitating the preparation and the 
supply of new materials through the functions of 



Gymnastics of Expression. 25 

digestion, assimilation and the circulation of the 
blood; also by promoting the removal of worn out 
material from the system. Gymnastics, in gen- 
eral, have these objects in view and may be called 
the gymnastics of exercise. 

Expression and Health training includes exer- 
cises whose objects are not only functional and 
corrective but also educational. Educationally 
considered, they may be called the gymnastics of 
expression. The gymnastics of exercise are, pri- 
marily, for physical development and power ; the 
gymnastics of expression have relation to the 
growth of the mental and the emotive natures, as 
well as to the growth of the physical. Where the 
one uses motion exclusively, the other uses motion 
as related to emotion or to a mental state. 

In the gymnastics of expression are included 
movements that always mean something, that are 
expressive of certain inner conditions, that by re- 
peated practice will enable the inner faculty or 
feeling from which they originate, to picture 
itself forth more clearly, forcibly and easily. 
Gymnastics of expression cultivate facility in 
using inner powers, also strengthen and develop 



26 Self- Expression and Health. 

such powers ; at the same time, they produce the 
functional benefits of the higher order of gymnas- 
tics of exercise.* Every muscle is brought into 
healthful action without doing violence to any 
part of the organism. 

Delsarte observed that when man was swayed 
by the higher emotions, his movements were not 
of a thrusting, or an angular, or a jerky order, 
but were harmonious and rhythmical, being princi- 
pally in the order of curves and spirals ; conclu- 
sion — if man in his more exalted moments natu- 
rally expresses himself by certain kinds of move- 
ments and attitudes, the cultivation of similar 
physical expressions will tend to establish corre- 
spondingly worthy inner states. Of course, be- 
fore the body can take on the expression of any 
sentiment, as of hope, a corresponding thought 
must be — consciously or unconsciously — in the 



* That Americanized Delsarte gymnastics are not antago- 
nistic to other forms of rational physical training, can be 
attested by the writer, who directs the Delsarte Depart- 
ment of the School of Physical Education at the Chautau- 
qua Assembly, Chautauqua, New York, where the differ- 
ent trainings are found to complement each other with 
excellent results. 



Gymnastics of Expression. k 2T 

mind. ' ' The ancestor of every action is a thought, " 
says Emerson. This interdependence of the mind 
and the body, of the feelings and the outward mani- 
festations — or the Law of Correspondence — is the 
great principle underlying the harmonious, educa- 
tional movements of the gymnastics of expression. 

Before adult bodies can be molded to the de- 
sired expression of high thought and feeling, they 
must be made plastic, susceptible; an undoing 
process must in nearly all cases precede an up- 
building one. By mental intensity and muscular 
restraint, man is restricted, often unconsciously, 
in all of his movements. This restriction defeats 
Nature, for she cannot truly express herself 
through such a high-strung instrument. More, 
such restriction is a great and an unnecessary ex- 
penditure of nerve-force. 

To get rid of this injurious tension, or over -ner- 
vation, the freeing, or rest, movements are given. 
Such exercises should form a part of every course 
of gymnastics. Invigorating exercises alone are 
insufficient; to quiet is as essential as to stimu- 
late. By the rest exercises, tense muscles are 
made passive — the natural state of muscles when 



£8 Self- Expression and Health. 

not on " active duty " — and the vital energy that 
in over nervation is ruinously squandered, is re- 
served at the nerve centres, thus reinforcing 
overwrought nerves and brain. Delsarte's law 
for control, " Strength at the centre, freedom at 
the surface," is here exemplified. These exer- 
cises undo bad, wasteful physical habits, and the 
expression gymnastics develop conservative, 
healthful ones in their stead. Grace will be a 
consequent result, for natural movements are es- 
tablished and all nature is graceful. 

Relaxing exercises do not, by any means, con- 
stitute the chief feature of Self- Expression and 
Health culture. Specific mention is made of 
these exercises because they are a distinctive 
feature, and because their pathological value is 
but little appreciated even by many who are in- 
terested in physical education. The relaxing ex 
ercises are only one of several leading character- 
istics of this culture — a culture every gymnastic 
of which tends to develop one of the three essen- 
tial attributes of physical power and of natural 
expression: namely, poise, or equilibrium; free- 
dom, or elasticity ; strength, or control. 



Gymnastics of Expression, 29 

Repetition makes habit; ultimately, nerve-con- 
serving movements become automatic, habitual. 
Then, by the added influence of the psychical upon 
the physical nature, does self possession supplant 
self-consciousness; natural expression supplant 
artificial repression; suppleness, stiffness; elas- 
ticity, supposed old age; buoyancy, languor; 
gracefulness, awkwardness; self-control, nervous- 
ness; repose, restlessness; strength, weakness. 



III. 

HEALTH AND GRACE. 



LESSON TALK. 

The first wealth is health.— .Emerson.. 

Whatever one has of gracefulness by nature, is a pre- 
cious gift from God. It stands for more than mere personal 
beauty. It is a token of the life within. 

—Sunday School Times. 

Tl THEN twenty or thirty earnest women as- 
* * semble for their first lesson in what they 
vaguely term ' ' Delsarte, " I always feel inclined 
— and f requently yield to the inclination — to ask 
them why they are there, what incentive leads 
them to make such investment of their time and 
money. Such inquiry when made brings forth 
various answers. One says: ''I am troubled 
with insomnia ; a friend was cured by these exer- 
cises, so I thought I would try them." Another: 
' ' I came to learn how to walk and how to mount 
stairs without exhaustion." Others seek "to 



Health and Grace. 31 

overcome nervousness;" "to get rid of round 
shoulders," or "a hollow chest," or " one-sided - 
ness;" "to cure headache" or "dyspepsia." 
Others more broadly say, "to learn how to so 
conserve my strength that I shall be well and 
strong." Back of all these answers there is the 
one general motive ; namely, a desire for health. 
Occasionally, a bright- faced girl says, "I want to 
be graceful," — and blushes at her own temerity; 
or a woman says, ' ' I want to get possession of 
myself. My body is really an incumbrance, I 
never know what to do with it." 

Rarely, however, are women courageous enough 
to admit that they wish to discipline their bodies 
that they may be graceful. Why? Because 
bodily grace is misunderstood and its value is not 
appreciated. It is commonly thought to be mere 
prettiness of movement— a superficial accomplish- 
ment—but of no use whatever to practical peo- 
ple. Health is universally desired, but to desire 
to be graceful seems to many minds a petty am- 
bition. Few appreciate that grace of movement 
inevitably helps to maintain health, or to regain 
it if lost. Grace is as useful as it is beautiful. 



32 Self -Expression and Health. 

If we were to teach our children to avoid awk- 
wardness as solicitously as we try to guard them 
against the generally accepted causes of illness, 
we would do more toward making them healthy 
than our fears and warnings ever will. Self -Ex- 
pression and Health culture make prominent 
the utilitarian value of grace. When this value 
is duly recognized, no man or woman will hesi- 
tate to acknowledge that he or she desires to be 
graceful. 

Languid movements and lackadaisical airs do 
not constitute grace. Grace, rightly understood, 
denotes strength instead of weakness; it is, as 
Herbert Spencer says, "Ease in force," This is 
the refinement of power which no more signifies 
loss of power than does the refinement of crude 
iron into steel. In the interview between Richard 
Cceur de Lion and Saladin, as narrated by Scott, 
where each performed his greatest feat for the 
edification of the other, when Saladin with his 
scimitar dextrously cut in two the gossamer 
scarf floating in the air, he displayed a power — 
physical ease and control, or grace— as superior 
to the brute force shown by Richard when he 



Health and Grace. 33 

severed the iron bar at one stroke of his battle-ax, 
as was the temper of Saladin's Damascus blade to 
that of the Briton's unwieldy weapon. Richard 
manifested effort in force which leads to deple- 
tion; Saladin, ease in force, which makes work 
seem as play. 

Hygienically, we cannot afford to disregard 
grace. 

Grace is economy of force; awkwardness is 
physical extravagance — a waste of force. Grace 
necessitates a wise adjustment of all parts of the 
body and a judicious expenditure of the nerve - 
f orce. One has said, ' ' Grace shows the strength 
and vigor and wise use of all of one's powers. " 

Commercially, we cannot afford to disregard 
grace. 

The awkward person is self-conscious, the 
graceful person, self-possessed; this difference 
frequently makes the difference between success 
and failure in life. Goethe says : 

Be thou but self-possessed, 
Thou hast the art of living. 

Speakers, teachers, leaders in any walk in life 
— and who to-day does not lead or seek to lead in 



34 Self -Expression and Health. 

some profession, some society, some meeting? — 
should have such easy possession of their instru- 
ments of expression that these will instanta- 
neously respond to the thought or the feeling di- 
recting them ; then, and then only, can the intel- 
lectual faculties freely express themselves. Many 
a thought and many a decisive action that would 
have profited the world have been lost because 
of physical self -consciousness. This condition is 
not the consciousness of the ego, or real self, but 
consciousness of the organ used by the ego. 
The self-possessed person forgets the body when 
using it and thinks only of the object of its use. 

Socially, we cannot afford to disregard grace. 

"We pass for what we seem." Many persons 
in the everyday affairs of life, in society, in busi- 
ness, appear stupid who are only timid; they 
have not possession of their nerve-and-muscle 
machines. 

Why do women feel trepidation when they are 
to read a paper at a literary society, or to give a 
five minutes' talk at the ' ' Club " ? Because they 
are conscious of their instruments of expression 
— conscious of hands, attitudes, voice, even of 



Health and Grace. 35 

dress. Fear is born of this self -consciousness ; 
they dare not do what they are capable of doing. 
When by self-knowledge and self- discipline, 
women gain habitual, easy control of their bodies, 
they will have achieved an important emancipa- 
tion. 

Such physical control gives a sense of repose 
and power to the mind. The body is but the 
clothing of the soul ; when it moves easily, grace- 
fully—Nature's way— the soul expresses itself 
with perfect freedom, being unconscious of its 
physical environment. The inner power can no 
more achieve its highest expression through a 
clumsy, restricted body than an able workman 
can show forth his best mechanical skill with 
poor tools. Grace is physical freedom, for only 
free, unconscious movements are ever graceful. 

Artistically, we cannot afford to disregard grace. 

In order to express the highest phases of our 
being, precision, harmony and ease must char- 
acterize our movements ; these are. the three es- 
sentials of grace. Grace is the "aumb music of 
motion." Awkward movements are jerky and 
discordant; graceful ones are rhythmical and 



36 Self- Expression and Health. 

harmonious. Beautiful motions delight the eye 
as beautiful sounds delight the ear. Whatever 
shows forth beauty has an uplifting influence on 
mankind. 

In all bodily expression there is a close relation- 
ship between health and grace ; this is clearly evi- 
denced in the poise of the body. The foundation 
of grace is a correct poise, while an incorrect 
poise is the primary cause of much illness, es- 
pecially lung difficulties, dyspepsia and pelvic 
troubles. Therefore, correct poise, standing or 
sitting, is the first great essential to be attained 
in the seeking of health, grace and natural ex- 
pression. 

The mechanical poise of the body is regulated 
principally by the backbone ; when that column 
is in a correct position, all other parts of the 
trunk must, of necessity, assume their correct po- 
sitions. The different parts of the body are so 
closely allied, organically and sympathetically, 
that if any one of them is put out of its proper 
relation to the whole, some or all other parts are 
sure to suffer. Some delicate organ often pays 
the penalty of a careless use of a strong member. 



Health and Grace. 37 

"All breaches of the laws of health are physical 
sins," says Herbert Spencer. Among the chief of 
such transgressions are bad positions, and an un- 
intelligent use of the backbone. 

The backbone of any normal figure describes 
Hogarth's celebrated line of beauty ; namely, the 
double curve. Commencing at the neck vertebrae, 
the line of the back curves slightly outward, then 
inward until it reaches the small of the back, 
where it again curves outward. This double- 
curved line is also the line of physical comfort 
and of health ; 'only when it is maintained are 
grace and buoyancy of movement possible. 

The principle shown forth in regard to the 
backbone is true in regard to all parts of the body. 
The relation that contiguous members sustain to 
each other, largely determines whether or not the 
movements and attitudes are graceful. Opposi- 
tion in position or in movement of adjoining 
members gives ease, equilibrium, naturalness. 
To illustrate : it is only when the three main divi- 
sions of the body— the head, the torso and the 
legs — are opposed to one another in direction of 
movement that combined strength and beauty 



38 Self -Expression and Health. 

are seen. No matter what the position of the feet 
— whether the one bearing the weight of the body 
be in front, or back, or diagonally in front, or 
directly at the side, of the free leg— this opposi- 
tion should be maintained ; it is a balanced adjust- 
ment of the members. The torso naturally in- 
clines a little from the strong leg— the one that 
bears the weight of the body — and the head in- 
clines slightly toward that leg. This is the only 
standing position in which there is no strain, no 
waste of force. When the body rests against a 
support, or is turned to one side, or when the 
arms are brought into action, the opposition be- 
comes more complex. A child at play presents an 
ever-changing series of complex oppositions. 

The inward condition revealed by lines of oppo- 
sition is that of calm, poised strength; the man 
is master of himself. Parallel lines of movement 
repeal a contrary inner state; namely, lack of 
self-control — the emotion or passion is master of 
the individual. 

It is the lines of opposition that give Greek 
statuary its repose, beauty and grandeur; we 
never weary of the strength, the restfulness, the 



Health and Grace. 39 

naturalness therein manifested. Self-Expression 
and Health culture aids in establishing outer har- 
mony and inner poise; thus, we may at least ap- 
proach these marble ideals in expression. 



IV. 
HOW WE STAND. 



LESSON TALK. 

We must guard against the growing into ways that are- 
likely to be disadvantageous to us, as we should guard 
against the plague. 

— William James in " Psychology." 

ET us consider some of the common viola- 
*^ tions of the natural standing-poise and see 
wherein they are solicitors of disease. Many per- 
sons in their well-intentioned efforts to be straight, 
rigidly hold their shoulders too far back ; to coun- 
terbalance this abnormal backward weight, the 
hips and the abdomen are thrust correspondingly 
too far forward. Proportion is as important a factor 
of equilibrium in human bodies as it is in marble- 
sculpture. This ' ' sway back " position is a wasteful 
one, for muscular tension always involves a sacri- 
fice of nerve-force. It brings a strain upon the 



How We Stand. 41 

muscles of the lower part of the back which 
causes them to ache; the vital organs cannot 
retain the positions and the relations to one an- 
other that were purposed in the physical econ- 
omy ; and the center of gravity is then thrown 
over the heels, causing a jar to the spine and 
brain with every step. Many a backache and 
headache are due to this position of the back- 
bone. 

The opposite extreme to this rigid position is 
the stooped one, where the back is one outward 
hoop or bow from the neck to the base of the 
spine. Accompanying this position of the back- 
bone will often be found a hollow chest, a " wry- 
neck," and weak waist- muscles that are unable to 
perform their supporting office. On account of 
the weakness of these muscles, the heavy upper 
part of the torso falls or rests upon the lower 
part. Dyspepsia is prevalent with people of this 
habit. How can the poor stomach uncomplain- 
ingly do its work when it is so cramped and 
crowded ? 

Another bad position is that common with 
schoolgirls, in which the weight of the torso rests 



42 Self -Expression and Health. 

principally on one side of the pelvis. This causes 
the hip to be unduly prominent and tends to induce 
internal weaknesses, curvature of the spine, one- 
sidedness and a stooping, lazy carriage. 

In some of the following chapters, exercises are 
given to overcome these injurious, ungraceful 
habits and to establish healthful, graceful ones in 
their stead. "Habit is ten times nature." Pro- 
fessor James, in his work on psychology, says: 
' ' In the acquisition of a new habit, or the leaving 
off of an old one, we must take care to launch our- 
selves with as strong and decided an initiative as 
possible. * * Never suffer an exception to 
occur till the new habit is securely rooted in 
your life. Continuity of training is the great 
means of making the nervous system act infal- 
libly right/' 

Expressions in Attitudes. — If the body be free 
and unrestricted, different inward states picture 
themselves forth naturally by characteristic out- 
ward expressions. An attitude may be the sign 
either of a physical condition or of a sentiment. 
The schoolgirl habit of settling on one hip may 
express a natural shrinking combined with a little 



• How We Stand. 48 

forced aggressiveness, or it may be the result of 
rapid growth— the body may have developed so 
fast that it has distanced the child's authority 
over it. A seemingly pompous attitude may 
denote either a superabundance of physical vigor 
or arrogance of feeling. The stoop-shouldered, 
hollow-chested attitude may denote'physical weak- 
ness, or moral weakness— as cowardice, hypocrisy, 
mock humility — or it may bespeak an introspec- 
tive nature. 

"When respect or attention is expressed, as by 
an inferior before a superior, or by a soldier before 
his commanding officer, the weight is upon both 
legs, the feet being near together. 

When indecision is expressed, as in a suddenly 
arrested walk where one is in doubt whether to 
advance or" to retreat, the weight is upon both 
legs, one foot being in advance of the other. 

When physical weakness, as in vertigo or intoxi- 
cation ; or moral weakness, as in the case of the 
braggart, who assumes strong physical attitudes 
to conceal his moral cowardice, is expressed, the 
weight is upon both legs, the feet being wide 
apart to give a firm base. This attitude may also 



44 Self- Expression and Health. 

denote mere physical ease. It is evident that ease 
alone does not constitute grace. 

When repose or reflection is expressed, the 
strong leg, knee straight, is slightly back of the 
free leg; the knee of the free leg is relaxed. 

When despondency or reactionary prostration 
from excitement is expressed, the strong leg, knee 
relaxed, is back of the free leg ; the knee of the 
free leg is straight. 

When defiance is expressed, the strong leg, 
knee straight, is back of the free leg ; the knee of 
the free leg is also straight. Many timid, self- 
conscious people assume a modified form of this 
attitude, thus expressing a self-assertion they do 
not feel. Such people are. often misjudged; they 
are considered haughty, arrogant, when in reality 
their nature is the opposite. Conscious weakness 
often masquerades behind strong attitudes and 
expressions. 

When active interest is expressed, the strong 
leg, knee straight, is in front of the free leg ; the 
knee of the free leg is relaxed and only the ball 
of that foot rests upon the ground. People inclined 
to melancholy, or those who lack confidence in 



How We Stand. 45 

their own abilities, should cultivate this attitude ; 
it would have a beneficial reactionary effect. 
Teachers desiring to hold the interest of a class 
should themselves show interest by their attitude. 

When no marked sentiment or physical condi- 
tion is expressed, the strong* leg, knee straight, is 
at the side of the free leg ; the knee of the free leg 
is relaxed. This attitude is neutral in expression ; 
neither explosiveness, concentration, physical 
vigor, nor physical prostration is shown forth. It 
is an easy, unassuming attitude to maintain 
in company; it might be called the "society 
attitude." 

When vehemence or strong excitement is 
expressed, the strong leg, knee bent, is well in 
front of the free leg ; the knee of the free leg is 
straight and only the toe of that foot touches the 
ground. This is the arrested run ; it is an attitude 
not frequently seen in everyday life. The "Fight- 
ing Gladiator " — commonly so-called — is a good 
illustration of it. 

Instead of the last-named attitude, a "reveren- 
tial march" or " ceremonious bow " is sometimes 
given in Delsarte teaching. It is a movement 



46 Self -Expression and Health. 

that naturally follows the neutral, or "society 
attitude," and consists of describing a half circle- 
convex to one's self, with the free foot; as this 
foot crosses the strong foot, the weight is trans- 
ferred to it. A bow of deference should accom- 
pany the movement. 

There are many modifications of these nine basic 
attitudes, but by knowing the significance of 
these, the expression of all attitudes can be 
interpreted. 



V. 

POISE. 



EXERCISES FOR PRACTICE. 

It is certain, that either wise bearing, or ignorant car- 
riage, is canght as men take diseases, one of another; there- 
fore, let men take heed of their company. 

— Shakespeare. 

PSYCHOPHYSICAL culture admits of no 
-*- purely mechanical exercises. The mind 
must cooperate with the body. In the exercises 
for practice, instead of thinking of the physical 
action merely, keep the thoughts concentrated 
as much as possible upon some result to be 
obtained by the practice. Some helpful thoughts 
to be held with the different exercises have been 
suggested ; these are not, however, in any way 
arbitrary. 



48 Self- Expression and Health. 

EXERCISE I. 

Hold some thought of proportion. 

Standing on both feet, the knees straight, the 
arms relaxed, bend the body slowly forward, in- 
clining the head backward in opposition. Note 
the movement of the hips ; they recede as the 
torso goes forward. Keeping the hips as nearly 
stationary as possible, raise the torso to an up- 
right position and push the crown of the head 
upward. 

Repeat several times. 

In raising the torso the tendency will be to let 
it pass the vertical line; this must be prevented, 
otherwise, the effect of the exercise will be to 
foster instead of to overcome a bad position. One 
can easily detect it when the upper torso begins to 
tip backward, for as soon as it passes the vertical 
line — where the shoulders are in line with the hips 
— there will be a perceptible forward movement 
of the hips. 

It is important to appreciate the action of the 
backbone and the chest in this exercise. The 
movement for raising the torso begins in the hip- 



Poise, 49 

joints and is successively imparted to each verte- 
bra ; the natural curves in the backbone assert 
themselves, the chest is lifted into a position of 
self-respect, and the waist-muscles resume active 
duty. 



EXERCISE II. 

Hold some thought of graciousness. 

Assume a careless standing position, the hips 
being forward, the knees slightly relaxed, the 
chest sunken and the head weakly inclined for- 
ward. Keeping the shoulders perfectly passive, 
place the hands upon the hip -joints and by a 
movement of the hip-joints bring the whole body 
into an attitude to correspond with the thought 
being held ; viz. , quiet self-respect, or graciousness. 

Although the backbone and the knees act in 
this exercise, it is not necessary to consider their 
action, as the best results have been secured when 
the attention has been directed to the movement 
of the hip-joints only. This movement consists 
in rolling the ball that terminates the femur bone 



50 Self- Expression and Health, 

in its pelvic socket. It is essential to be able to 
make this movement in order to be sure of a nor- 
mal poise. In other exercises that seek this poise, 
there is a possibility of some error in practice 
which would cause strain ; but if the directions 
for this hip-movement are carefully observed, all 
parts of the body must, of necessity, easily come 
into their proper positions. 

It is not advised to think of the hips or of the 
action of the hip- joints, except in this exercise 
and the preceding one, which are for the pur- 
pose of securing a correct poise of the body. It 
is impossible for some to even put their bodies 
into a good position until they have taken such 
preparatory exercises; but when the necessary 
muscular facility is acquired, one should forget 
that one has hips and should think, rather, of ex- 
pressing noble feelings that are pictured forth by 
a high chest, a well-poised head, a graceful car- 
riage and a free, unrestricted body. 

Although this movement is simple in itself, 
some patience may be necessary in perfecting it. 
We are unaccustomed to call a particular part of 
the body into action and at the same time to com- 



Poise. 51 

mand all other parts to be passive ; our muscle- 
servants are not well trained and often blunder 
in their work. The shoulders are in the habit of 
acting whenever an erect position is essayed and, 
like some nervous, overworked persons, do not 
know how to rest when they have an opportu- 
nity. In this exercise they must be free from 
tension and not be allowed to make the slightest 
independent movement. Should it require daily 
practice for weeks to perfect this movement, it 
would be time well spent. During years of teach- 
ing I have never found any other single exercise 
so effective in producing a harmonious adjust- 
ment of* the three main divisions of the body ; the 
final results we seek— health, grace, and natural 
expression— are impossible without such adjust- 
ment. 

How can it be known whether one makes the 
movement correctly or not? By the effects. When 
it is made correctly, the abdomen recedes, the 
chest and the entire torso rise, and the double - 
curved line of beauty appears in the back. Nor 
can there be any mistaking the pronounced mo- 
tion of the hip- joints under the hands; when this 



52 Self- Expression and Health. 

motion is felt and the shoulders are kept passive, 
the effects mentioned will always follow. 

No fatigue will result from this exercise unless 
the back, waist, or abdominal muscles have be- 
come weak by disuse ; the only remedy for such 
weakness is exercise. Of course, one should be 
judicious here, as in eating after a protracted ill- 
ness — do not overdo the matter at first. 

The dress frequently bears witness to the 
changes that are made in the body by this and 
the preceding exercise. If it be a snug-fitting 
garment, as a basque, when the body has assumed 
a natural position, the dress will be from one to 
six inches too large over the abdomen, too full 
across the shoulders, too narrow across the chest, 
and frequently short-waisted in front and long- 
waisted in the back. 



EXERCISE III. 

Hold some thought of unity. 

Take the position acquired by Exercise II. , the 
weight being upon both feet. Keeping the knee, 
hip and shoulder-joints stationary, and moving 



Poise. 53 

the body as one member from the ankles to the 
crown of the head, sway slowly forward— not 
lifting the heels — until the center of gravity, is 
directly over the balls of the feet; then sway 
backward until it is over the heels. 

Repeat many times making the movement more 
slowly each time. 

Always discontinue the exercise with the body 
in the position obtained by swaying forward. 
This is the Normal Poise of the body ; whenever 
that term is used herein it will refer to this posi- 
tion. This poise is one of the best illustrations of 
conservation of energy. It is expressive of phys- 
ical buoyancy; no light, springing movement 
can be made when the center of gravity is over 
the heels. If we habitually keep the center of 
gravity over the balls of the feet, we would at all 
times be ready for any movement ; also, the ab- 
dominal muscles would keep their physical tone 
much longer than otherwise, even if no special 
exercises were taken for strengthening them. 
All our sufferings and sins are due to lack of poise 
—physical, mental or spiritual. 



54 Self -Expression and Health. 

A sensation as. of falling is commonly expe- 
rienced when one first attempts to keep the center 
of -gravity over the balls of the feet. This is to 
be expected from the change of position; the 
upper part of the body really does fall from one- 
half an inch to two inches— it falls forward to a 
straight line. Often in first lessons a student 
ejaculates: "Oh! I could not stand this way al- 
ways; I should tip over. It is so unnatural!" 
The same person after ten days' practice will say, 
" I stand in the natural p^tee all the time now, it 
is the easiest position I ever^^l; besides, I feel so 
much lighter and younger thl^Lphen the weight 
rested heavily upon the heels. '^Bius what seems 
unnatural, because unaccustomeofcjpon becomes 
natural. Habit constitutes seconowature and 
this is often mistaken for first nature^ In Self - 
Expression and Health culture only normal types 
and conditions are taken as standards. ' ' To be 
natural is not to yield to one's peculiarities ; it is 
to get free from all peculiarities. " 



Poise, 55 

EXERCISE IV. 

Hold some thought of lightness. 

Standing in the normal poise, rise slowly on the 
balls of the feet ; then bend at the knees as far as 
possible, not allowing the body from the hips up- 
ward to swerve from a vertical line. From this 
position, rise on the balls of the feet and repeat the 
exercise. 

To rise on the balls of the feet without sway- 
ing, is, by many considered a test of a good 
standing poise, but it is not an infallible test. 
Some people can rise from a bad position even to 
the tiptoes without swaying forward or back- 
ward in the least ; care should be taken to secure 
a good poise before beginning the exercise. 

The action is confined wholly to the legs. The 
torso maintains its erect position and is simply 
carried up and down by the legs. Fear of losing 
one's balance often causes the torso muscles to 
become tense and braced ready to assist. The 
thought of fear must be kept out of the mind by 
persistently holding the thought of courage, of 
strength or of equilibrium, and then the reflec- 



56 Self- Expression and Health. 

tion of fear — muscular strain— will not be pres- 
ent in the body. 

To rise slowly and steadily is often difficult at 
first; this may be owing to weak leg muscles, 
but it is more commonly due to lack of control. 
By concentrating the thoughts upon control and 
precision, marked results will be obtained by 
even a few days' practice ; but only after months 
of practice will perfection of movement be ap- 
proached. Some may wonder how so simple an 
exercise can be so long practiced with continued 
improvement. A nicer direction of the nerve- 
force will be acquired, the movement will be made 
with less and less effort until, finally, buoyancy 
of mind and body will result from its practice. 

Great care is required to gain the precision of 
movement that alone will secure the results de- 
sired. ■ A mirror is an impartial critic; if one 
stands sideways before it when practicing, it 
will reveal any jerkiness of movement or the 
slightest deviation of the body from a straight 
line. 

This exercise establishes the center of gravity 
over the balls of the feet, it develops control, 



Poise. 57 

strengthens the leg and ankle muscles, and gives 
flexibility to the feet . 



exercise v. 
Hold the thought of " Repose in action." 
Advance one foot, toe touching the ground; 
transfer the weight to the ball of the advanced 
foot, raising the heels of both feet as high as pos- 
sible—the toe of the back foot will lightly rest 
upon the ground. Slowly come down upon the 
forward foot, keeping the center of gravity over 
the ball and then rise again. 

Advance the other foot and repeat the exercise. 
[Always exercise corresponding members or parts 
of the body equally.] 

If this exercise be practiced sufficiently to en- 
able one to hold the poise on the ball of one foot 
with ease and steadiness, while he reads or re- 
peats a page from a favorite author, it will give 
an appreciable gain in controlling the nerve-force. 
These poising exercises are also an important aid 
in intellectual pursuits. The principal of the Mc- 
Donald-Ellis School for Young Ladies, Washing- 



58 Self -Expression and Health. 

ton, D. C, writes: "Giving earnest thought to 
accomplishing these exercises trains the mind so 
that it more readily grasps any other subject. 
The Delsarte work in our school has had influence 
on all other departments. I consider it one of 
the best means to the best education. " 

By Exercise V. the dangerous habit girls have 
of letting the torso settle into one hip, can be 
overcome, as that exercise develops an easy, nat- 
ural poise upon either foot without any protru- 
sion of the hip. The admonition " to stand upon 
both feet " seldom receives more than momentary 
attention from a child ; so the bad habit is con- 
tinued and deformity is a frequent outcome. A 
girl should be allowed to stand upon one foot or 
both feet, but she should be taught to carry her 
body, and to stand well at all times. "Putting 
the shoulders back " should not be included in 
such teaching ; these members have in the past re- 
ceived an undue amount of attention. Many 
have mistakenly believed that if the shoulders 
were held back a correct, graceful carriage would 
be insured. On the contrary, focusing the atten- 
tion on the shoulders gives them a stiff awkward- 



Poise. 59 

ness, whereas they should be perfectly free to 
perform their duty as expression agents. Delsarte 
called the shoulders the thermometers of passion 
and sensibility. When a person is deeply moved 
— as by anger, grief, fear, surprise, horror, exalta- 
tion, hope, hate or love— the shoulders by their 
movement measure the degree of the passion. 



VI. 



RELAXATION, RECEPTIVITY, RECU- 
PERATION. 



• LESSON TALK. 

We have had something too much of the gospel of work. 
It is time to preach the gospel of relaxation. 

—Herbert Spencer. 

/""\VER WROUGHT, nervous Americans have 
^-^ special need to learn ' ' the gospel of relaxa- 
tion." From the cradle to the grave, excitation 
and strained exertion are the order of most lives. 
In school, children are urged to injurious nerv- 
ous efforts in their studies that a high per cent, 
may be attained. Undue stimulation of a grow- 
ing child's brain is at the expense of the entire 
nervous system. Plants forced to premature 
flowering are weakened by the process and often 
bloom themselves to death. After school come 



Relaxation, Receptivity, Recuperation. 61 

the drive and the strife of the competitive sys- 
tems of society and business ; the nerves are kept 
constantly alert in the struggle for wealth, for 
position, or, many times, for the necessities of life. 
Thus " the pace that kills " has become common 
with modern men and women. 

To get at causes, let us ask why do work, worry, 
hurry, break men down ? Physical labor alone 
cannot be the cause, else professional men would 
be exempt ; intellectual pursuits alone cannot be 
the cause, else miners, locomotive engineers and 
farmers' wives would be exempt ; combined physi- 
cal and intellectual labor in themselves cannot be 
the cause, else society women, who devote them- 
selves to pleasure exclusively, would be exempt. 
Whereas, victims of "the pace that kills" are 
frequent in all these classes. 

It matters not what the occupation, the habits, 
the condition, the environment, of the individual, 
the immediate cause back of collapse — physical or 
mental — is the same. It is lack of nerve-force. 
This shortage is caused by extravagant use and 
insufficient replenishment of the supply ; but these 
are secondary causes and are due, in turn, to a 



62 Self-Expression and Health. 

primary cause ; namely, tension, or over -nervation. 

Tension equals fatigue, tension equals irrita- 
bility, tension equals self- consciousness, tension 
equals nervousness, tension equals insomnia; to 
these abnormal conditions are attributable nearly 
all ' ' the ills that flesh is heir to. " 

In the action of any part of the organism there 
must be some amount of nerve-force used and, 
literally, the use of nerve- force always implies 
some degree of tension ; but, as the word is used 
in these lessons, tension signifies the use of an un- 
necessary amount of nerve- force, or, as scientists 
would say, over -nervation. To illustrate : If in 
holding a pen or lifting a weight, more force is 
exerted than is required, that is tension; if in 
walking or in stooping, more force is sent to the 
members exercised than is essential to make the 
movement, that is tension; if when seated the 
arms are held near the body, or the fingers are 
tightly locked, that is tension. 

In physical economy as elsewhere, "A penny 
saved is twopence gained," yet how much nerve- 
force is frittered away on little, purposeless move- 
ments; as, in tapping the feet, hitching the 



Relaxation, Receptivity, Recuperation. 63 

shoulders, jerking the head, drumming the fingers, 
clasping and unclasping the hands, working the 
lips, grating the teeth, contracting or elevating 
the eyebrows. Tension is a chronic state with 
many ; the nerves are wastef ully wrought upon 
not only when the muscles are in action but 
when they are not. People sitting in easy-chairs 
often look, and are, uneasy — every muscle being 
held in severe rigidity. Keeping nerve-force in 
the muscles when there is no legitimate use for it, 
is like keeping up steam in a locomotive days 
before it is to be run. 

Tension is as unnatural as it is wasteful. A 
little child lets its arms, hands, legs, fall passive, 
relaxed, when they are not in use; we hold them. 
Nature is economical, but man is a prodigal spend- 
thrift of that which is ' ■ more precious than great 
riches" — his nerve-force. What exhaustion fol- 
lows a few hours in a dentist's chair when one 
has been holding to the arms of the chair with 
might and main, bracing with the feet and fatigu- 
ingly straining with every nerve, as if that were 
the only way in which the pain could be endured. 
The pain is not lessened by this resistance, the 



64 Self -Expression and Health. 

exhaustion is augmented; indeed, the latter is 
chiefly due not to the pain but to the useless 
expenditure of nerve -force. 

Much manual labor that otherwise would be 
beneficial exercise becomes injurious because of 
the way in which it is done. Being uneducated 
in physical economy, people make hard work of 
that which is not so, and thus, body and brain are 
needlessly exhausted. Some study with the whole 
body. A certain literary man always felt in his 
knees the fatigue of writing, and when he walked 
any distance his arms ached because of the tension 
in them ; nervous prostration was the inevitable 
result that followed years of such wasteful 
expenditure of the nerve-force. 

Balance between the receipt and the expendi- 
ture of vital force, constitutes perfect health. We 
have seen how tension unduly increases the 
expenditure ; not less does it decrease the amount 
of vital force received. Tension is a two-edged 
sword, cutting off life at both sides. 

Life is not manufactured within the body, 
The so-called vital organs, that by some are held 
to be the manufacturers of vital force, are no 



ixation, Receptivity, R lion. 65 

more so than the engine is the manufacturer of 
the steam that drives it ; both body and engine 
are merely machines through which the impelling 
force acts. 

Vital force is inexhaustible and everywhere 
present; replenishment of it is ever available to 
man. provided he establishes within himself the 
conditions favorable to its reception. When the 
mind and the body act without tension, this force 
repairs the legitimate waste that attends activity, 
mental or physical, and preserves the equilibrium 
between supply and consumption. Tension is an 
obstruction to the entrance of this force ; it antag- 
onizes nature's endeavors for replenishment. 
Assuredly, it is of the first importance to rid 
ourselves of this foe to health— even to life itself. 
How is this to be accomplished ? By relaxation . 

Relaxation puts the organism in the state of 
receptivity ; then recuperation follows. 

Relaxation is more than diversion, more than 
an occasional holiday, an evening of pleasure, a 
summer's outing. Relaxation means the release 
of the organs and the tissues from tension; it 
means a husbanding of nerve-force; it means 



66 Self-Eocpression and Health. 

the habitual, muscular repose of any part, or 
of the whole, of the body when it is not in 
action for some definite purpose ; it means a let- 
ting go of one's self at will. This is the only 
remedy for exhaustion; when relaxation is se- 
• cured, nature takes care of restoration. Through 
tension the nerve-centres are depleted; through 
relaxation they are recharged with force. 

If in the many instances of physical bankruptcy 
known to them, people would trace the dire effects 
back to their causes, we would not so often hear 
the apology for sinful trespass upon the mental 
and physical powers, ' ' Oh, I haven't time to rest, 
I've so much to do!" So much to do! Why, then, 
cut off years from the time in which to do that 
much ; why impair the instrument with which to 
do it ; why unfit the workman for his best work 
at the present hour? It is when work crowds 
that we worry, and then we do our poorest work. 
A thought may consume more nerve-force than a 
blow. Muscular motion is cheap ; nerve power is 
expensive. Hurry and worry are physical sins. 
When we feel most hurried or worried is just the 
time to do nothing— to relax. 



Relaxation, Receptivity, Recuperation. 07 

The tension that is manifested in the exterior 
muscles of the body does not by any means con- 
stitute the entire effect of combined thought and 
will on the organism. Wherever nerves are, there 
may be tension, for the nerves are the conductors 
carrying vibrations to and from the centers of 
volition. As there is conscious and unconscious 
thought, so there is, there must be, conscious 
and unconscious tension ; tension that affects the 
involuntary as well as the voluntary functions of 
the body. 

It is a possible, although not a usual, condition to 
have the exterior muscles completely relaxed 
while the thoughts run riot; all tension conse- 
quent on this state is in the tissues and organs 
that perform the involuntary functions. Such 
tension interferes with the natural operations of 
the internal organism. Physicians recognize that 
the act of digestion is stayed by fright— a mental 
condition that causes unconscious tension in the 
digestive organs. The effects of emotion upon 
the heart are well-known phenomena of uncon- 
scious tension. Dr. James H. Jackson, of the 
Dansville (N. Y.) Sanatorium, says, "People in 



68 Self- Expression and Health. 

this country have more dyspepsia in their brains 
than in their stomachs." 

There is always a mental cause for tension, 
whether the tension be manifested upon the vol- 
untary or involuntary processes of the body. 
Fortunately, these two processes are intimately 
connected, so that through the voluntary we can 
reach and regulate the involuntary. By con- 
trolling the conscious thoughts, we affect the un- 
conscious ones, and so gradually establish har- 
mony in the entire man. 

Some of the most advanced scientists now hold 
that mind is the only force. Every quality of 
thought sends a corresponding quality of vibra- 
tion over the nerves, which, in turn, register a 
healthful or injurious effect upon the bod} 7 . 
Thoughts make or unmake us physically as well 
as mentally, not because of the thoughts in them- 
selves, but because of their physiological effects 
on the body. Dr. Leibig, the distinguished 
chemist, says, "Every conception, every mental 
affection, is followed by change in the chemical 
nature of the secreted fluids; and every thought, 
pvery sensation, is accompanied by a change 



Relaxation, Receptivity, Recuperation. 69 

in the composition of the substance of the 
brain." 

Thoughts of contention, of impatience, of 
anger, work to our physical as well as to our 
moral detriment. They put tension into the 
body, and tension obstructs some vital process 
Most of all, we should not entertain thoughts of 
fear. There is more to fear from the action of 
fear on the body than from any other cause. All 
happy thoughts— thoughts of hope, beauty, sub- 
limity, love, faith, charity — are upbuilding; they 
are relaxing in effect, and thus they provide ac- 
cess for the vital energy. 

( Relaxation can be secured by mental and phys- 
ical discipline. The will can be made a governor- 
valve for shutting off, as well as for putting on, 
steam in the human machine. When the tension 
can be removed at will and the muscles be re- 
duced to their natural, free condition, physical 
regeneration is well begun. Then, do we "be- 
come as little children," and like them, we shall 
be recuperated from all "wear and tear" in the 
degree that we relax and are receptive to vital 
energy.^ 



1 



VII. 

HOW TO REST. 



EXERCISES FOR PRACTICE. 

Let us pause and catch our breath 
On the hither side of death; 
Lose all troubles, gain release, 
Languor and exceeding peace, 

—James Whitcomb Riley. 

OELF-EXPRESSION and Health culture 
^~^ teaches as well as preaches the ' ' gospel of 
relaxation ;" relaxation is essential before rest is 
possible. Things apparently simple are some- 
times the most difficult to compass. Complete re- 
laxation is simply, doing nothing, but this is so 
difficult that many are prone to believe that it is 
impossible. There are persons who at the words, 
" let go," can entirely relax, but such instances 
are exceptions ; generally, when told to relax, a 
person will say, " How can I relax ?" " By with- 



How to Rest. 71 

drawing the nerve-force from the arms, the 
hands, the head, or whatever part you wish to 
surrender. " " But I do not know how to do this ; 
nerve -force is such an intangible substance, I can- 
not control it." Steam, electricity, thoughts are 
intangible, but not uncontrollable; neither is 
nerve -force. 



EXERCISE VI. 

During all of the relaxing exercises, hold some 
thought of freedom, rest, or tranquility. 

Arms hanging at the sides, inhale and forcibly 
agitate the hands until they feel heavy and life- 
less. Shake them forward and backward, later- 
ally, and in circles from each other and toward 
each other. 

In all exercises of the arms, the motor power 
should be at the shoulder. 

The hands being the direct agents of the mind, 
by their tension and restlessness unmistakably 
report mental strain and agitation. They are 
sometimes the most difficult members to make 
reposeful, but by continued practice of this sim- 



72 Self- Expression and Health. 

pie exercise everyone can gain the power of 
withdrawing the nerve-force from them at will. 



EXERCISE VII. 

The hands being passive and the elbows straight, 
raise the arms above the head. Hold the position 
while mentally repeating several times, ' ' relaxa- 
tion, rest, repose," then instantaneously relax the 
arms. 

This exercise can be taken standing or sitting, 
but sitting is at first the better position as the 
lower limbs can then sympathize with the relaxa- 
tion of the upper. 

The arms must not be put or thrown down, 
but allowed to drop, thus obeying the law of 
gravitation. When thoroughly relaxed fchey fall 
like sand-bag arms, the shoulders, elbows, wrists 
and finger-joints being perfectly free ; if they are 
thrown down, there will be restriction at the el- 
bows, or the upper arms will be brought 
close to the body; if they are put down, they will 
descend gently, making no noise as they touch 
the body. It may be helpful to imagine that a 



How to Rest. 73 

severe blow is struck upon the shoulders, tor the 
moment paralyzing the arms and causing them to 
fall by their own weight. A relaxed member al- 
ways seems heavy. 



EXERCISE VIII. 

Arms hanging passively at the sides, energize 
the upper arms only and lift them directly out- 
ward until the elbows are in line with the shoul- 
ders; the relaxed forearms will hang vertically 
from the elbows. (Agitate the upper arms to 
prove the relaxation of the forearms.) Succes- 
sively, lift the upper arms as high as possible, 
energize the forearms and raise them until they 
are in line with the upper arms, energize the 
hands, the fingers, and stretch vigorously up- 
ward. Hold this position while repeating, as in 
the preceding exercise, ''relaxation, rest, repose," 
then, successively, relax the fingers, hands, 
forearms and arms. 

This exercise develops a directing control of the 
nerve-force ; we send it to a certain part of one 



74 Self -Expression and Health. 

member and there arrest it, or we withdraw it 
from any given place at will. 

By the practice of these relaxing exercises, the 
arms become habituated to repose ; this is a phys- 
ical gain, for all nerve-force consumed in useless 
action or in repression of action, is wasted. 
Beauty of expression in the arms is also acquired by 
this means. When the raised arms fall relaxed, 
they assume easy positions and graceful lines. It 
is tension in them that makes angles or awkward- 
ness possible. See the freedom and grace in little 
children's movements and positions before they 
become conscious of their bodies. 



EXERCISE IX. 

Standing or sitting in the normal poise with the 
arms hanging passive, inhale as in Exercise XVI. , 
and raise the shoulders as high as possible. Hold 
the position a moment; then relax the shoul- 
ders, after which slowly exhale. 

Care should be taken to keep the chest up when 
the breath is exhaled. It is essential to distin- 
guish between elevating the chest and protruding 



Bow to Rest. 75 

it; the latter requires an effort and gives a 
strained appearance to the figure. 

This exercise frees the shoulders from restric- 
tion and gives them a natural— not a military- 
position. It also removes over-nervation from 
the muscles of the back. 



exercise x. 
Standing in the normal poise, slowly relax the 
spine, vertebra after vertebra, beginning with the 
neck and end by bending forward from the 
hips. (The head will hang pendant, the torso 
drag heavily forward, and the arms dangle from 
the shoulders.) Gently bend the relaxed mass to 
the left side, then to the right ; bring it again di- 
rectly forward arid very slowly energize and raise 
it. The lower portion of the back first becomes 
active ; the energy gradually progresses upward 
until, last of all, the head regains its normal 
position. 

When one unreservedly yields one's self, the 
trunk will drop as if the muscles had not the 
power to sustain it. If there be pain in any of 



7(> Self- Expression and Health. 

the muscles of the trunk, this exercise will tend to 
remove it ; a general soothing effect will result, as 
the great spinal cord and many of its offshoots 
are directly affected ; and flexibility in the back 
will be promoted. 



EXERCISE XI. 

The head being in its normal position, look 
fixedly at a given place in the ceiling and take 
three deep respirations ; after exhaling the third 
time, let the eyelids wearily droop and the lower 
jaw relax and fall. 

If the eyelids and the jaw — the jaw is a direct 
agent of the will — are relaxed, not simply put in 
the desired positions, the effect on the feelings 
will be conclusive evidence of the correspondence 
between outer manifestations and inner states. 
The outer expression here is a most inane one, 
while stupid well describes the inner state. As a 
nation we are too (i smart," too alert; it is health- 
ful to cultivate spells of self-imposed stupidity. 

Keeping the tongue flat in the mouth and 
monotonously repeating, "bah, bah, bah," as a 



How to Rest. ;: 

baby does, will aid in relaxing the jaw and all of the 
muscles of the face. 

In persons of weak will, the lower jaw is often 
unintentionally relaxed; in imbeciles, it is habitu- 
ally relaxed. In persons of hard, cruel natures, 
or of positive convictions, the jaw is firmly set. 
In poets, artists, lovers, combined strength and 
tenderness are revealed in the gently closed lips 
and jaws. 

If the eyelids are perfectly relaxed, there will 
not be the slightest tremor in them. Nervous 
people, brain- workers, and. people " sight- seeing " 
would become much less fatigued if they would 
occasionally relax the eyelids for a minute or two ; 
overstraining the optic nerve affects the entire 
nervous system injuriously. Moreover, seeing or 
listening under a physical strain diminishes one's 
power of perception and of retention. 



exercise xn. 



Sitting with the back supported, relax the eye- 
lids as in Exercise XL, then gently lower the head 
until the chin rests upon the chest. Slowly roll 



78 Self -Expression and Health. 

the head toward one shoulder using no more 
energy than is necessary; continue the rolling 
movement, alio wing the jaw to relax as the head 
circles back. At the middle point of the circle, 
the head rests against the spine, the mouth is 
open, and all of the muscles of the face are re- 
laxed. Continue the circle to the other shoulder 
and then relinquish all guidance of the movement; 
the head will roll forward and around by its own 
weight, and the momentum thus acquired will 
cause it to oscillate to and fro in decreasing arcs 
until it ceases to move. 
Repeat at least three times in succession. 

Holding the head by muscular tension as many 
people unconsciously do, makes it a difficult mem- 
ber to relax and gives a person an ungracious ex- 
pression. When the neck muscles are tense, the 
movements of the head are jerky; such move- 
ments are expressive of impetuous weakness. 
Thus the outer seeming oftentimes libels the inner 
being, for many strong, but repressed, characters 
have this mannerism. Emphasizing with the 
head indicates lack of self-control. "In his weak 



How to Rest. 79 

violence he shook his empty head." Strength and 
control are shown forth by a firmly poised head 
that easily sways, turns and bends to secure the 
equilibrium of the body, or moves to correspond 
with the feeling to be expressed, but is too digni- 
fied to bob or jerk. 

This exercise is very soothing in its effects ; in 
class practice it seldom fails to produce a feeling 
of drowsiness in the majority of those present. 



EXERCISE XIII. 

Standing with the weight on the right foot, lift 
the left upper leg until the knee is in line with 
the hip, the fore leg being bent as far back as pos- 
sible. Relax the fore leg letting it swing from the 
knee like a pendulum ; then relax the upper leg 
which will make the foot fall heavily to the 
ground. 

This exercise is good practice for maintaining 
the equilibrium of the body as well as for gaining 
control of the nerve- force, 



80 Self- Expression and Health, 

EXERCISE XIV. 

Standing with the weight on the right foot, 
relax the head toward the right side, then the 
shoulders, then the trunk in the same direction, 
letting the arms drag heavily from the shoulders. 
Reversing the order, energize the lower trunk, the 
shoulders and the head. Eelax as before, then 
rotate the dead-heavy mass to the other side, also 
changing the weight to the left foot. Return to 
normal poise. 

In addition to the relaxation that this exercise 
gives, it draws the blood to the abdominal region 
thus stimulating the action of the internal organs ; 
it also develops freedom of movement in the 
waist zone which makes possible the undulatory 
motion so often written of— so seldom seen. 



EXERCISE xv. 

Sitting easily with the back supported, take a 
long, full breath through the wide open mouth and, 
at the same time, gradually energize the whole 
body, stretching the arms above the head, the 



How to Rest. 81 

legs and the feet outward in front. The result of 
this exercise should be a yawn. 
Repeat, until the yawn becomes involuntary. 

A good, stretching yawn— not one that is half 
smothered behind the hand or a handkerchief, but 
one that is allowed free expression — gently invig- 
orates every part of the body with a wave-like 
flow of energy which is followed by a moment of 
general passivity. Such moments are recuperative. 
It may not be polite to yawn, but it is natural. 
Animals stretch and yawn. It is healthful to 
yawn and stretch one's self thoroughly awake be- 
fore rising ; it is equally beneficial to yawn and 
stretch when fatigued. The yawn is the body's 
natural cry for reinforcement, and in that cry 
itself comes a partial answer to the demand ; for 
every time that a part or the whole of the body is 
relaxed, even for a moment, some amount of vital 
energy is received. Yawning is helpful in over- 
coming nervousness and insomnia. Yawning and 
laughter are natural— albeit involuntary — gym- 
nastics. 

Emerson speaks of the ' ' rest and refreshment 



82 Self -Expression and Health. 

that come of shaking one's sides with laughter. " 
Why does laughter bring rest and refreshment ? 
Because through its salutary influence upon the 
mind and its effect upon the physical organism, it 
removes the tension that always prevents rein- 
forcement. Carlyle satirically says, ' ' Few women 
are able to laugh what can be called laughing, but 
only sniff and titter from the throat outward." 
Such laughter will not afford the relaxation that 
refreshes. The diaphragm should actively play in 
a wholesome laugh ; then it may be said of laugh- 
ter as Burke said of beauty, namely: "It acts by 
relaxing the solids of the whole system." 
Laughter has been known to dispel insanity. 



VIII. 
THE BREATH OF LIFE. 



LESSON TALK. 

He lives most life whoever breathes most air. 

Elizabeth Barrett Browning. 

HTHAT it is important to breathe pure air is 
^ to-day quite generally recognized ; but that 
bodily strength, mental activity and spiritual 
tone depend in a marked degree upon the manner 
of breathing, is not so well understood. Insuffi- 
cient clothing, though of good quality, will not 
keep a man warm ; neither will insufficient air, 
though of good quality, thoroughly purify the 
blood, normally accelerate the action of the 
thoracic and the abdominal organs and duly 
strengthen the respiratory muscles. 

We ''die for want of breath " and we only live 
in full measure, physically, mentally, morally, 
when there is no deficiency of breath in quantity 
or quality. Unless the physical system is momen- 



84 Self- Expression and Health. 

tarily invigorated by plenty of pure air, properly 
breathed, the body, brain and nervous system are 
imperfectly nourished. When the organism is 
thus depleted, the spiritual perception is also im- 
paired. The Greeks believed that the soul is 
cleansed by full, deep inspirations, as the body 
is cleansed by bathing. Science proves that the 
material body is purified by breathing, poisonous 
gas and effete tissue being thus expelled from it. 

Air is an indispensable condition of life. Man 
can live for weeks without food, as numerous 
fasters have proved ; people have survived sev- 
eral days without water or other liquids; but man 
can live only a few minutes without the vital sus- 
tenance afforded by air. Nor is there any limit 
to the amount of air that it is wholesome to take. 
Civilized man is intemperate in eating, drinking, 
working, talking, reading, thinking, feeling— in 
everything in fact, save breathing; there is no 
such transgression as respiratory intemperance. 
Who ever heard of a man's overbreathing ? 

Clothing that interferes with the action of the 
diaphragm and that does not allow the floating 
ribs to float, is one of the chief causes of the 



The Breath of Life. 

short, spasmodic breath from the upper lob- 
the lungs; this breath is almost universal with 
women whoso dresses are 'just a little snug" or 
a "close fit." Because of the pressure of the 
muscles, and of the resistance of the clothing 
thereto, in diaphragmatic breathing, it is more 
comfortable to breathe in such a manner as to 
avoid this constant antagonism between the body 
and clothing; thus clavicular breathing uncon- 
sciously becomes the habit. 

Not only external restriction, but restriction In 
the body itself— tension— seriously interferes with 
healthful breathing ; if we could take all volition 
out of the act of breathing; if we could, as it 
were, abandon our instrument and let it become 
receptive to the inflowing breath, respiration 
would be natural. Tension and its bad effects 
are what interfere with the harmonious action 
of all automatic functions. Were it not for these 
we should have no more responsibility in regard 
to the manner of our breathing, than has a kitten 
in regard to its breathing. As it is, we should 
strive to counteract the bad influence of our un- 
natural environment and habits. 



86 Self- Expression and Health. 

Action is the law of health; all the vital organs 
are quickened by breathing more than by any 
other single operation. By deep, unimpeded respi- 
ration, not only the organs of the thoracic cavity, 
but the stomach, liver and all other organs that 
are in juxtaposition to the muscles of respiration, 
are stimulated. Indigestion causes the muscles of 
the stomach gradually to shrink, thus, ultimately, 
to become incapable of contracting and dilating; 
this condition can be prevented and remedied by 
exercise. Feeduig these muscles is insufficient in 
such cases, for food cannot compel them to act ; 
exercise can. Localized exercise, as deep breath- 
ing, sends more blood and nerve force to the 
muscles of the stomach which reanimate and 
strengthen them. Before it is possible to tone up 
the vital organs by invigorating, deep breathing, 
the cause that produced the habit of bad breath- 
ing must be removed. Generally, this cause is an 
incorrect poise of the body, standing or sitting ; 
or muscular tension ; or compression by the cloth- 
ing; or weak abdominal muscles. A corpulent 
man often breathes as weakly and insufficiently 
as a tightly-corseted woman. Learning to stand 



TJie Breath of Life. 87 

well, to strengthen the abdominal walls and to relax 
the tension of the muscles, is an essential prepara- 
tion for gaining health by breathing. 

Correct breathing is an effective medicine for 
pulmonary troubles. Headache, lassitude, nausea, 
colds, can frequently be breathed away. After an 
hour or so in a crowded church, lecture room or 
theatre, who has not thrown off the symptoms of 
incipient blood poisoning by deep inhalations of 
fresh air ? 

Dr. Lennox Browne says in relation to breathing, 
"Exercise in moderation, regularly and conscien- 
tiously repeated, will increase the breathing 
capacity, improve the voice, and make speaking 
easy. It may change, and has changed, the fal- 
setto of a grown man into a full, sonorous, man's 
voice; it may restore, and has restored, a lost 
voice ; as it also may cure, and often has cured, 
clergyman's sore throat. It will certainly turn a 
greater quantity of dark blue blood into bright 
red blood; the appetite will increase; sounder 
sleep will be enjoyed; flesh will be gained; and 
the flabby, pallid skin will fill out and get a 
healthy, rosy color. All this, and more, may be, 



88 Self- Expression and Health, 

and often has been, the result of lung-gymnastics 
carried on in moderation and with perseverance." 

Rapid, insufficient breaths betoken weakness. 
Slow, deep breathing is the habit of animals noted 
for their strength and longevity; the elephant 
breathes only about ten times a minute, while 
some of the small, weak animals take over one 
hundred breaths in the same time. The breathing 
of an infant is rapid, but as the child grows in 
strength, the number of respirations lessens until 
the average of about eighteen a minute is reached. 

Most adults breathe too often but do not breathe 
enough. The hurry and the anxieties of our in- 
tense life thus manifest themselves. Because of 
the intimate relation existing between respiration 
and the inner conditions, it is important that 
conscious attention be given to breathing until 
the unconscious habit of deep, restful breathing 
has been established. 

Varied mental states are revealed by different 
kinds of breath. Agitation and nervousness are 
exhibited by a short, quick breath ; great excite- 
ment by a gasping, irregular breath ; melancholy 
by a slow, uncertain breath ; concentration, as in 



The Breath of Life. 89 

listening intently, by a held breath; a calm, hap- 
py state of mind, by an even, deep breath. 

''Right thinking and right breathing are the 
two things most essential to health and happiness, " 
said an eminent physician. It is evident that 
right thinking induces the right breath; likewise, 
right breathing will tend to right thinking, and 
may become a promoter of health and happiness. 
There was wisdom in the remark of a young lady 
who, after closing the door upon a restless, garru- 
lous caller, turned to her friends and said, ' ' That 
woman has set me nearly frantic. I must go and 
breathe a while to calm myself." Many a ner- 
vous person could become mentally poised by re- 
poseful breathing. 

There is a close analogy between the breath and 
the spirit ; in fact, one may almost declare that 
the breath is the symbol of the spirit. ' ' And the 
Lord God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life 
and man became a living soul." It is significant 
that the Latin root (spirit us) from which are de- 
rived all the words applied to the process of 
breathing, also means spirit. The expression of 
spiritual qualities expands our natures ; breathing 



90 Self- Expression and Health. 

expands us physically. The Orientals gave 
spiritual meaning to the acts of respiration. In- 
spiration was interpreted, "God in us;" expira- 
tion, " We are in God. " 



IX. 
RESPIRATION. 



EXERCISES FOR PRACTICE. 

Self-culture aims at perfection and is the highest fulfil- 
ment of the law of God. It means perfect symmetrical 
development of all our powers of body, mind and spirit. 

— Goethe. 

T T OW we shall breathe is a much disputed 
-** -*• subject among teachers, speakers and 
singers. Some advise intercostal breathing, 
others declare that abdominal breathing is the 
only natural respiration, while others call this lat- 
ter "abominable" breathing, and endorse chest 
breathing or diaphragmatic breathing. It would 
seem that there need not be such diversity of 
opinion about a natural function whose modus 
operandi is so easily discerned as is that of 
breathing. Observation of healthy, unrestricted 
children should enable one to decide what mode of 
breathing is natural under normal conditions, and 
science should aid in determining what special 



92 Self- Expression and Health. 

modes of breathing are promotive of special re- 
sults. The principal action in a child's breathing 
is not in the upper part, but in the middle and the 
lower parts of the torso. The diaphragm, the 
great muscle that separates the lungs from the ab- 
dominal viscera, gives the muscular support and 
control of the breath ; the office of the intercostal 
and the abdominal muscles is secondary to that of 
the diaphragm. The abdominal muscles, because 
of their external position, are sometimes thought 
to have the principal office and movement in res- 
piration; in truth, their office is subordinate to 
that of the diaphragm, but their movement is 
more easily discernible than that of the chief 
muscle of respiration. In every normal breath of 
child or man, these muscles rhythmically rise and 
fall, measuring the respiration as the heart-beats 
measure the circulation. This is the normal" 
breath of man and animals. Under certain ab- 
normal conditions there is no action whatever in 
the abdominal muscles. 



EXERCISE XVI. 

Hold some thought of repose. 



Respiration. 93 

Lying prone upon the back, place one hand up- 
on the chest, the other upon the abdomen forward 
of the hip-joints ; slowly and audibly exhale the 
breath, then close the lips and let the air flow into 
the lungs through the nostrils. Keep the chest 
quiet during the exhalation and the inhalation. 

When control of the chest is obtained with the 
body in a recumbent position, take the same kind of 
a breath in a sitting, and then in a standing posture. 

If the respiratory exercises begin with exhala- 
tion instead of inhalation, good results will be 
realized in less time than otherwise would be re- 
quired. Persons undisciplined in respiratory ex- 
ercises commonly make much useless effort when 
they try to inhale deeply ; they lift the shoulders 
and the chest and contract the abdominal muscles. 
Such physical exertion obviously makes a deep 
breath an impossibility. The habit of gasping 
inhalatiou of some singers and speakers is fre- 
quently caused by this muscular officiousness in 
inhalation. 

If the client is not allowed to move, the dia- 
phragm and the abdominal muscles will, of neces- 



04 Self -Expression and Health. 

si t y . be ac ti ve . As the lungs expand in inspiration, 
they press the diaphragm downward; it, in turn, 
causes the sides to swell outward and the abdomi- 
nal walls to extend, somewhat. This motion will 
be felt under the hand that is forward of the hip- 
joint in this exercise. In exhalation the move- 
ment is reversed ; as the air leaves the lungs, the 
diaphragm resumes its dome-like shape, the ab- 
dominal walls retract and move inward and 
upward. 

Many persons find that at first they have no 
control over the different muscles ; that the chest 
will move, that the abdominal muscles are disin- 
clined to action, and that the movement of the 
diaphragm is uncertain. But by patient practice 
and by concentration of thought, control over all 
these can be acquired. When the chest can easily 
be held stationary, the vigilant watch over it may 
cease, for the right habit of breathing will then 
have been commenced, and Nature always assists 
in reestablishing natural states and action, if we 
only give her a chance. In normal inspiration, 
the chest swells slightly, the back expands some- 
what, while the sides expand considerably. 



Respiration. 95 

This breathing-exercise has a quieting effect on 
the nervous system, especially when the breathing 
is slower and fuller than is normal and the mind 
is concentrated on some abstract thought, as 
"Life, Light, Love." 



EXERCISE XVII. 

Hold some thought of animation. 

Stand with the weight well over the balls of the 
feet, the torso tipped slightly forward, the head 
backward ; rotate and raise the arms to the level 
of the shoulders, palms upward, at the same time 
inhale a deep, full breath. Keeping the elbows in 
line with the shoulders, bend the forearms inward 
rise on the balls of the feet, and lightly but 
firmly tap the surface of the chest with the finger- 
tips. After a moment's percussion, slowly exhale 
and let the heels sink to the ground. 

Repeat several times. 

Care should be taken to keep the elbows well 
raised during the percussion, as by so doing the 
whole torso becomes responsively active ; also the 



96 Self -Expression and Health. 

whole surface of the chest, particularly that por- 
tion near the arms, should be tapped. 

This exercise stimulates the chest muscles, 
quickens the circulation and tends to increase the 
lung- capacity. 



EXERCISE XVIII. 

Hold some thought of expansion. 

Standing or sitting erect, exhale and inhale as 
in Exercise XVI. ; then, retaining the breath, 
slightly but firmly contract the abdominal mus- 
cles. Hold the sides of the body firm, and count 
ten or more as the breath is slowly exhaled. 

This is an important breath and it will be used 
in many of the following exercises; it expands 
the emotive zone of the torso, and makes the vital 
zone firm and strong, but not prominent. It is 
the breath that supports good tones— pure, reso- 
nant tones that suggest vitality and controlled 
strength. 

A person instinctively takes a deep, full breath 
and holds it when he wishes to exert unusual 
strength, as in pushing, pulling or lifting. Del- 
sarte taught that pauses and poses are the most 



Respiration. 97 

effective things in the language of words and 
gestures, both indicating reserve force. 



EXERCISE XIX. 

Hold some thought of power. 

After exhaling, inhale as deep a breath as pos- 
sible, expanding the back, the sides and the ab- 
dominal walls ; then, retaining the breath, by a 
muscular effort forcibly contract the abdominal 
walls. Hold the breath until its retention requires 
a strained effort; during exhalation be careful 
that the chest does not collapse. 

No muscles in the body have more important 
service to render than have the abdominal muscles 
in respiration and in holding the abdominal and 
pelvic viscera in place ; they can be made firm and 
strong by this exercise. 

As these muscles forcibly contract, the dia 
phragm rises and the air in the lower cells of the 
lungs is impelled upward to their apexes ; this ex- 
pands that portion of the lung tissue that is least 
active during normal inspiration. The apexes are 



98 Self- Expression and Health. 

the parts that are affected first in pulmonary con- 
sumption. 

This breathing-exercise is also an effective 
means for filling out the hollows in the neck. If 
done correctly — with no tension in the neck — as 
the abdominal muscles contract the hollows will 
be filled out; by persistent practice they will 
gradually disappear. 



EXERCISE xx. 

Hold some thought of exhilaration. 

Sitting erect, place the open hands at the waist- 
line just above the hips, the fingers front, the 
thumbs back; pressing the hands against the 
body, bring the elbows well forward being careful 
not to let the chest sink. Slowly inhaling, steadily 
move the arms backward as far as possible and 
bend the torso somewhat forward ; the movement 
of the shoulders and the arms will pull the fingers 
from the body but the thumbs serve as a fulcrum 
and must not be allowed to move. Hold the posi- 
tion as long as the breath can easily be retained ; 
then gently relax the shoulders and slowly ex- 
hale, keeping the chest raised. 



Respiration. 99 

Place the bands a little higher at the sides and 
repeat the exercise. Then higher still and repeat. 
Lastly, take hold of each arm with its own hand 
by placing the open hand directly in the armpit, 
and repeat the exercise. 

Take the movement at least twice in each posi- 
tion. 

This exercise strengthens all of the muscles of 
the torso, especially the abdominal and the waist- 
muscles. It is excellent for expanding the chest 
and the lungs. "Developing the chest " too often 
refers only to the enlargement of the external 
muscles while little or no attention is paid to the 
more important internal organs, the lungs. Some 
broad-chested athletes are deficient in breathing 
power and are as subject to lung affections as 
are men who appear to be their inferiors, physic- 
ally. Chest development, like all true growth, 
should be primarily from within. The foregoing 
exercise strengthens the lungs and the external 
muscles at the same time. 

Round shoulders can be overcome by this exer- 
cise. The backward movement of the arms flattens 



100 Self-Eocpressioriland Health. 

the shoulders ; by the elevation and the expansion 
of the chest, the length of the waist is increased 
in front and decreased in the back, if there has 
been an inclination to stoop. Torso muscles, 
made strong by being compelled to perform their 
legitimate work, are the only natural shoulder- 
braces. 



EXERCISE XXI. 

Hold some thought of symmetry. 

Advance one foot and stand with the weight on 
it. Inhale and, retaining the breath, rapidly 
swing the arms forward, up and backward in 
large circles, making these as nearly perfect and 
parallel to each other as possible. Make from five 
to ten rotations, then discontinue the movement 
and exhale. 

Repeat several times with each foot advanced 
alternately . 

Care should be taken not to bend the torso, nor 
crane the neck in this exercise ; the chest should 
be high and the head well poised. 

This exercise strengthens the torso muscles, 



Respiration. 101 

especially developing those directly under and in 
front of the arms where ugly hollows often are. 



EXERCISE XXII. 

Hold some thought of vitality. 

Rise on the balls of the feet, extend the arms at 
the sides level with the shoulders, palms upward ; 
firmly close the hands, inhale, and stretching the 
arms to the greatest extent possible, vigorously 
rotate arms from the shoulders backward in very 
small circles. Increase inhalation during the ro- 
tation. Exhale slowly, sink arms to sides and 
come down on the whole of the feet. 

Repeat until the entire body is in a glow. 

Care should be taken to keep the body poised 
in front, rather than back, of the vertical line ; 
also, to keep the head well up, not allowing it to 
incline downward or forward. Unless the arms 
are kept level with the shoulders, much of the 
beneficial effect of the exercise will be lost. 

This exercise is an adaptation of the West Point 
"shoulder-shaving" exercise. By it, the chest 



103 Self- Expression and Health. 

and shoulder muscles are strengthened, and the 
lungs are expanded. The shoulder-blades should 
nearly touch, or shave, each other during the ro- 
tation of the arms. 

This is a good exercise for daily practice for 
any who are hollow-chested, round-shouldered, or 
whose lungs are weak. It stimulates the digestive 
functions and strengthens the abdominal walls. 

Many persons complain that breathing-exercises 
cause dizziness ; this only shows the greater need 
of the exercises. The strength of a chain is rated 
by its weakest link, not by its strongest ; so with 
the strength of the body. When the breath by its 
effect upon the circulation causes dizziness, the 
" weak link" that should be fortified is revealed. 

Retention of the breath is an important part of 
respiratory exercises, but in no case should the 
breath be held quite as long as it is possible to 
hold it, because the reaction from such extreme 
exertion is physical fatigue that neutralizes the 
benefits of the exercise. Always exhale while it can 
be done slowly and the active position of the chest 
can be maintained. This suggests reserved force ; 
the explosive exhalation suggests exhausted force. 



X. 

WALKING. 



EXERCISES FOR PRACTICE. 

To walk badly is sinful, for bad walking is injurious to 
the physical organs. To walk badly is bad manners, for 
every way of walking expresses something. Bad walking 
expresses bad things and is therefore impolite, just as 
slang and violent gestures are impolite. 

— The Countryside. 

T T OW we do walk, and how we should walk, 
-*- -*■ are oftentimes the opposites of each other. 
It is one thing to get from a certain place to some 
other by means of the human locomotive appara- 
tus ; it is quite another thing to walk miles with 
an invigorating, elastic step and as a result to 
feel vitally quickened rather than fatigued. 
Walking should not be under the conscious direc- 
tion of the brain ; it should be an automatic move- 
ment. • Habit is the great economy of nature ; if 
the brain were required to take cognizance and 
control of all movements, it would break down 



104 Self-Eocpression and Health. 

quickly. The brain is relieved in proportion as 
the outlying ganglia do their rightful work. 

Walking in the open air is generally regarded 
as beneficial exercise; it undoubtedly is such, 
when one knows how to walk. But when the 
mind is conscious of an effort, when the body is 
dragged wearily along, or when the nervous 
system is made to pay the.penalty of vicious thuds 
of the heels, it is questionable if the injurious 
effects do not more than counterbalance the bene- 
fits derived from the muscular activity and the 
fresh air. 

Many persons willingly spend time and money 
in learning to dance who would ridicule the idea 
of learning to walk with economy of force, and 
grace of bearing. Yet dancing is only an inci- 
dental, an occasional physical pleasure, while 
walking is a daily physical necessity ; few dance, 
everybody walks. Nor does dancing per se pro- 
duce a dignified carriage or a natural walk ; many 
dance gracefully who walk awkwardly. 

One has said, ' ' The art of walking should be 
taught to girls as carefully as the art of reading, 
for one is the basis of physical, as the other is of 



Walking. 105 

mental, education." Not only girls, but men and 
women, should learn to walk well for the bene- 
ficial reaction of the exercise on mind and body. 

An easy standing-poise, strong waist and leg 
muscles, and the habit of natural breathing, form 
a good preparation for gaining a buoyant, grace- 
ful walk that shall produce exhilaration of mind 
and body. After these, freedom and unity of 
movement must be developed. 



exercise xxni. 

Hold some thought of dignity. 

Take a base a little wider than usual and stand 
with the weight resting equally on both feet. 
Rise on the balls of the feet, lifting the heels but 
slightly, and pivot slowly to the right; as the 
body turns to the right, transfer the weight en- 
tirely to the right foot, which will be directly in 
front of the left foot when a quarter of a circle 
has been described. Prove that the body rests 
only upon the advanced foot, by lifting the other 
foot from the ground without swaying the body 
forward. Hold the position steadily a moment, 



106 Self- Expression and Health. 

then simultaneously transfer the weight and 
pivot to the left, describing half a circle ; test as 
before by lifting the foot that is back. Complete 
the movement by pivoting to the first position. 

Pivot as directed, then kneel without changing 
the position of the feet ; rise with the weight en- 
tirely over the forward foot. 

Advance the foot a step, and take the pivoting 
and kneeling exercises, the same as at the sides. 

The body should not bend nor teeter during these 
exercises. Kneeling strengthens the muscles of 
the legs and the ankles, and disciplines them to 
act independently of the rest of the body. In 
picking up anything from the floor, these muscles 
should do the work, the torso being entirely free 
from action save as it may bend to either side, or 
in front, to reach the object sought. If the bend- 
ing is mainly from the waist, the muscles of the 
back do the greater part of the work and the ab- 
dominal viscera are compressed. 

The pivoting exercises cultivate an easy action 
in turning and in transferring the weight of the 
body, as in changing the direction of the walk, or 



Walking. 107 

in simply turning around when not walking— an 
act that is repeated many times daily, usually 
with waste of force and with awkward appear- 
ance. In turning around, three or four steps are 
often taken where only an easy pivoting move- 
ment and a change in the position of one foot, 
are necessary. The military ''About Face!" is 
done by pivoting on the heels instead of on the 
balls of the feet ; it is a manoeuvre of a body of 
men where precision is the first requisite. But 
people would look odd enough if, in a parlor or on 
the street, they were to balance themselves on 
their heels, and with noticeable effort swing 
around into different positions ; whereas, if the 
weight of the body is habitually kept over the 
balls of the feet, it is the least conspicuous move- 
ment possible to turn easily by pivoting in any 
direction. A high chest and a good poise of the 
head must always be maintained in this and all 
other exercises for equilibrium or poise. 



EXERCISE XXIV. 

Hold some thought of equilibrium. 



108 Self -Expression and Health. 

Advance one foot and stand with the weight on 
it. From the thigh raise the upper part of the 
free leg straight out in front, until it is at a right 
angle to the trunk ; at the same time, bend the 
fore leg back making an acute angle at the knee. 
Hold this position steadily a moment and then 
relax the fore leg, letting it fall like a dead 
weight from the knee. Hold this position as be- 
fore ; lift the heel of the foot that sustains the 
weight, and for a moment stand steadily poised 
on the ball of that foot ; after which, bring the 
ball of the free foot lightly to the ground in 
a forward step, at the same time transferring 
the weight to it. 

Lift the back leg as before and repeat the 
movement. 

The head should be naturally poised and the 
eyes fixed on some point a little above their own 
level ; if the head droops or is thrust forward, it 
will cost an effort to preserve the balance. 

This exercise is often done imperfectly, the up- 
per leg being lifted only a trifle, or the heel of the 
back foot not being raised until the ball of the 



Walking. 109 

other foot is 611 the ground. The benefits from 
the exercise are in proportion to the correctness 
of its execution. 

It is called the Greyhound Movement because of 
the lightness and elasticity of step that it de- 
velops; these qualities are due to the sweep of 
motion from the hip- joint, and to the relaxed fore 
leg's giving a light, caressing impact to the foot 
as it touches the ground. The fore leg must not 
be placed in the required position, but in each 
step it must be wholly freed as is the fore leg of a 
greyhound, and the motion in stepping must be 
allowed to flow successively from the thigh to the 
toes. 

This exercise strengthens the leg muscles, aids 
in preserving the equilibrium, and develops the 
ability to energize and to relax a particular part 
of the body at will. 

While it is one of the best exercises for produ- 
cing a free, light walk, it should be remembered 
that it is a gymnastic and not a mode of walking. 
Goethe says, ' ' A certain mechanical preparation 
must precede every art." Walking is an art; 
gymnastics are the mechanical preparation. Not 



110 Self -Expression and Health. 

long since, I was seated beside a recently made 
acquaintance at a carnival in one of our large 
cities. The lady, not knowing my familiarity 
with Delsarte Culture, turned to me and laugh- 
ingly asked, ' ' Have you ever seen the Delsarte 
walk?" I replied— and honestly— " No, I never 
have." "Well, that tall young man promenad- 
ing with beautiful Miss S has it." I looked 

and saw a young man making himself unpleas- 
antly conspicuous by walking a la greyhound 
gymnastic. It is such absurdities as this that 
bring ridicule upon that which in itself is good. 

Set methods for special movements would rob 
people of all spontaneity, all individuality ; would 
make them mere automatons. There is no Del- 
sarte walk, no Delsarte standing position, no Del- 
sarte way to sit down, no Delsarte way of doing 
anything. The only way we seek is Nature's 
way. Man can no more make natural ways than 
he can create Truth; he can create unnatural 
ways and falsehood; at his best, he discovers 
Nature's ways and lives Truth. 

Movements that are required for natural ex- 
pression are often exaggerated in a gymnastic 



Walking. Ill 

in order that facility may be acquired. In the 
greyhound gymnastic, the thigh is raised to a 
right angle with the trunk in order to gain the 
power to maintain an easy poise and a free hip- 
action, while in walking it is raised only slightly, 
the foot always being kept near the ground. 



EXERCISE XXV. 

Hold some thought of power through control. 

Stand erect, weight on the right foot ; with the 
motor power in the thigh, easily swing the left 
leg backward letting only the tip of the toe touch 
the ground. Slowly transfer the weight to 
this leg and gradually yield the entire foot to 
the ground . As the back foot is pressed to the 
ground, raise the heel of the forward foot and 
swing that leg back, thus making a continuous 
backward walk. 

A gentle, rhythmic motion characterizes this 
exercise, there being no break between the suc- 
cessive steps . The top of the head will describe 
an undulatory line. When taken slowly this 



112 Self-Expression and Health. 

walk produces a soothing effect and has often dis- 
pelled headache— pain in the temples or the fore- 
head. By reversing the usual order of locomo- 
tion, going backward instead of forward, the 
pressure on the cerebrum seems to be lessened, 
and the entire nervous system is tranquilized. 

Flexibility of the feet is also developed by this 
exercise; sometimes, there is no more spring in 
these members than there would be if each foot 
had but one bone, instead of twenty-six bones. 
The structure of the arch of the foot is indicative 
of the elastic movement that the foot should 
make in stepping. 

If one walks gently backward across the room 
several times and then, without interrupting the 
motion, changes the direction and walks forward, 
in the first few forward steps the rhythmical 
motion induced by the backward walk will be 
preserved. By continued practice a light, buoy- 
ant step will become habitual. 



EXERCISE XXVI. 

Hold some thought of ease in motion. 

Stand with the weight on the left leg ; from the 



Walking. 113 

hip swing the right leg forward, relaxed fore leg, 
and let the heel lightly touch the ground, the rest 
of the foot being slightly raised. Then lift the 
heel of the left (backward) foot, at the same time 
transferring the weight of the body entirely to 
the ball of the right foot. 

Swing the left leg forward and continue the 
exercise. 

This is a simple but an important exercise, as it 
is the movement that is made in each step when 
one walks easily and economically. It will be 
noticed that the heel touches the ground first, but 
that the weight is transferred to the ball, not to 
the heel, of the advanced foot. 

The buoyancy and spring of movement which 
should result from the practice of this exercise 
and from Exercise XXV. cannot be secured 
unless the body is habitually well poised ; there- 
fore, to walk well, it is first essential to stand 
well and to have strong, responsive waist and 
abdominal muscles. 

In practicing walking exercises, care should be 
taken not to brace with the arms; let them hang 



114 Self- Expression and Health. 

free from the shoulders. Unless restrained, they 
will gently oscillate in opposition to the move- 
ment of the legs. 

Some may object to this motion of the arms 
and declare that the woman who swings her arms 
appears masculine — " strong-minded; " they may 
say that it is more " ladylike " to keep the arms 
pinioned to the sides. Society is full of conven- 
tional constraint, of affectations in physical ex- 
pression; we need to free ourselves from such 
bondage if we would be genuine and self-respect- 
ing. Think of being bound to a conventional 
form of holding the arms! A conventionalized 
woman, compared with her emancipated, phys- 
ically free sister, is as uninteresting and expres- 
sionless as is a conventionalized flower in a dado 
design, compared with the natural flower grow- 
ing in graceful freedom. 

If a woman stands as many men do, with the 
center of gravity over the heels, and the shoulders 
too far back, her arms may take as broad a swing 
as a man's do, and she may be accused of seeming 
too important ; but if her body be poised well, the 
movement of her arms will not be conspicuous 



Walking. 115 

and the whole expression will be one of ease and 
refinement. That body is the most harmonious 
in which the movements of the different members 
are the least noticeable. 

After mastering the " mechanical preparation," 
one should not think of the body at all in walking. 
Rather think of abounding life, of the joy of liv- 
ing. If such thoughts be held in the mind, the 
body will take on similar expressions. 



XL 

SITTING: RISING. 



EXERCISES FOR PRACTICE. 

In beauty, that of decent and gracious motion is more 
than that of favor. 

—Lord Bacon. 

ACK of physical education is nowhere more 
-^ conspicuously apparent than in the way 
many people sit. Because of this deficiency in 
their early training*, many have no idea of any 
way of sitting properly other than to sit bolt up- 
right, with the trunk muscles as tense as if they 
were designed to serve as a straight- jacket. As 
this position is merely " proper," and not com- 
fortable, few women maintain it save " on occa- 
sions " when they are not supposed to be comfort- 
able ; at other times, many let the shoulders fall 
forward and the chest become depressed, quieting 
their sense of propriety by saying, ' ' Oh, I know 
it is not the right way to sit, but it is so com- 
fortable." So comfortable! In reality, it is a 



Sitting: Rising. 117 

fatiguing, unhealthful, unprepossessing position. 
It seems comfortable because of habit, because 
the back and the waist muscles by long indulgence 
have become indolent, and like petted children 
make themselves painfully disagreeable when oc- 
casionally required to obey. The comfort of these 
external muscle-servants should be held of no 
moment compared with the comfort and conven- 
ience of the delicate internal servants, upon the 
discharge of whose duties health depends. In 
this so called "comfortable" position, the interior 
organs are crowded and pinched beyond the pos- 
sibility of good work. 

Let us learn the true and the beautiful in phys- 
ical habits as well as in morals, that the vicious 
may have no attraction for us. 

It may be asked, ' ' How are we to sew, or to 
write at a desk, if we are never to bend over?" 
One may bend over as much as one likes, if 
Nature's bending-places — the joints — are regarded ; 
bend from the hips instead of breaking at the 
waist line. 

When the backbone retains its double curve, 
the chest will be high and all of the internal 



118 Self -Expression and Health. 

organs will have perfect freedom. This position 
should always be maintained when sitting without 
a back support, as on a piano stool. There are 
persons who habitually hold this upright position 
with ease, but generally people who "never lean 
back " are of the tense, angular order, and, sooner 
or later, they must suffer the consequence of 
their severe rigidity. 

Centuries ago the old Latin philosopher said, 
' ' Straining breaks the bow, relaxation relieves 
the mind."' That the backbone may not lose its 
flexibility, and that the mind and the muscles may 
be rested, the backbone should be " unstrung," or 
relaxed, whenever a support allows. 



EXERCISE XXVII. 

Hold some thought of flexibility. 

Sitting erect, lift and drop the shoulders to free 
the torso muscles from tension. Place one hand 
upon the chest and one at the small of the back ; 
slowly sway backward until the body rests against 
the back of the chair, then sway forward to the 
original position. 



Sitting: Rising. 119 

If this exercise be correctly taken, as the body 
sways backward there will be a slight outward 
curve at the small of the back; the chest will 
lower a little — become passive in expression — but 
will not approach a depressed state. When the 
chest is depressed, the shoulders fall forward ; but 
in this movement they retain their normal posi- 
tion, and are the first to rest against the sup- 
port. 

If the torso be held in a tense manner, as the. 
body sways backward the small of the back will 
curve still farther away from the back support ; 
this is a fatiguing, an unnatural attitude. 

In the latter part of the movement, as the body 
sways forward, the chest — not the head — will 
lead; the back will curve inward as the chest 
rises. The head always naturally moves in oppo- 
sition to the torso. 

This simple exercise should be practiced much ; 
it is important, as it teaches how to sit in a manner 
at once healthful, graceful and restful — restful to 
one's self and, by its influence, to others. 

The hands should not be held conspicuously 
upon the abdomen. Do not hold them at all; if 



120 Self -Expression and Health, 

they are free from tension they will take care of 
themselves. 



EXERCISE XXVIII. 

Hold some thought of harmony. 

Sitting with the body resting against the back 
of the chair, inhale and sway slowly forward, 
bending only at the hips, until the torso is well 
over the lap; in the degree that the torso in- 
clines forward, the head inclines backward. Ex- 
hale slowly, as the torso rises and the head 
adjusts itself in harmony with the general move 
ment; when the torso reaches an upright posi- 
tion, do not stop the movement but continue 
swaying backward until the body is in its original 
position. The arms should hang loosely at the 
sides throughout the exercise. 

Repeat at least six times without interrupting 
the flow of motion. 

Take a similar movement, diagonally forward 
to the right and to the left ; also, one directly at 
each side. 

There are many benefits to be derived from this 



Sitting: Rising. 121 

exercise. It develops the chest, strengthens the 
waist and back muscles and educates them to 
precision of movement; by the first part of the 
exercise, the muscles under the chin are strength- 
ened, which tends to prevent an accumulation of 
adipose tissue that would result in a double-chin. 
When several repetitions of the exercise are 
made in slow rhythm, a soothing effect is pro- 
duced. It is an exercise that should be practiced 
daily by all. 

Any exercise that moves contiguous or corre- 
sponding members in opposition, if taken rhyth- 
mically, has a direct influence on the nervous 
system. Physical strength, beauty, equilibrium, 
and all high sentiments, are expressed in those 
lines that have been well termed ' ' the divine lines 
of opposition." 

When leaning against a back-support, the lower 
part of the spine should be well back in the chair ; 
when it is not so, the chest is depressed, the 
shoulders are stooped, the back muscles are 
weakened and sometimes the terminal bone 
(coccyx) is injured. This habit of sitting is com- 
mon among children in school; becoming tired 



123 Self-Expression and Health. 

from the inactivity of the muscles, they seek 
relief in this semi-reclining position. Pupils 
should frequently be rested and strengthened by 
exercises in breathing, relaxing and energiz- 
ing. 

Parents and educators need to realize that the 
bodies as well as the brains of children should re- 
ceive attention ; that it is more essential that a 
child should know how to strengthen and rightly 
use his body, than that he should "pass" in 
technical physiology ! To know how to walk well 
is more important than to know the construction 
of the foot. A gymnastic is better than a theory. 
Physical sins are not eradicated by wordy argu- 
ments, but hollow chests and crooked spines 
respond to a good gymnastic. 



In no ordinary physical act is more force 
wasted or more awkwardness seen, than in 
changing from a sitting to a standing position. 
The movement usually begins with a jerk- 
jerks are always weak and wasteful— that brings 
the body too far forward, and then it is pushed 
up by straining the back muscles ; whereas, those 



Sitting: Rising. 123 

muscles should be exempt from any direct par- 
ticipation in the movement. 

We underuse and overuse certain muscles, 
because we do not know their proper functions 
and do not respect their individuality. We must 
learn to use one part of the body, or one set of mus- 
cles, independently of the rest and to let those not 
necessary to the movement be passive while the 
others act. The waist muscles are underused when 
they do not perform their rightful office of sus- 
taining the torso ; they are overused when they 
have any share in raising the body. 

In rising, the torso should sway forward— not 
necessarily slowly— until the center of gravity is 
brought sufficiently forward; then the body 
should be raised to an upright position by the 
strength of the legs. In the act of sitting, one 
should yield first at the ankles, then at the knees 
and hips, successively, carrying the torso back- 
ward as the hip- joints act. 



XII. 
CORPULENCY. 



LESSON TALK. 

A beautiful form is better than a beautiful face. 

—Emerson. 

CORPULENCY is defined by Webster as " an 
^-^ excessive quantity of flesh, in proportion 
to the frame of the body." The word is com- 
monly understood, however, to mean an excessive 
deposit of adipose tissue in the abdominal region ; 
in this latter sense it is herein used. 

Somewhat of the encumbering adipose tissue 
present in corpulency is imbedded around the tor- 
tuous intestines, but the greater quantity usually 
forms a superficial deposit ; autopsies frequently 
reveal layers of fatty substance several inches in 
thickness, attached to the walls of the abdomen. 

What causes this abnormal condition and how 
can it be prevented ? Inactivity of the abdominal 
muscles is the primary cause. Whenever there is 



Corpulency. 125 

a tendency to undue stoutness, the little cells of 
fatty substance most easily ingratiate thems< 
between the fibres of weak, flaccid muscles. 
Through disuse, the abdominal muscles become 
ready receptacles of degenerating fatty tissue. 
No other part of the body is so sedulously guarded 
against strengthening exercise as is the abdomi- 
nal region, and no other malformation is so com- 
mon as corpulency. Fearing injury to the deli- 
cate organs in the pelvic and abdominal cavities, 
some women mistakenly think that all movements 
that affect this region are dangerous; we hear 
young girls cautioned about "reaching upward." 
After maternity, women are inclined to favor this 
part of the body by half stooping when standing 
or sitting, thus causing the evils they are seeking 
to avoid. This unwise favoring of the abdominal 
muscles is prejudicial alike to health and to 
beauty of figure. To stoop is to age rapidly. 
Adipose weaves fetters around human energies. 
Maternity is a natural function and no physical 
deterioration, either in appearance or in condi- 
tion, should result from it. That such deteriora- 
tion is not a necessity has often been proven ; a 



126 Self- Expression and Health. 

notable illustration of this fact is the much 
admired and graceful English artist, Mrs. 
Kendal, who is the proud mother of ten children. 

A careless carriage, in which the torso is held 
upright mainly by the framework of the body, 
invites corpulency and is the first cause of many 
woeful weaknesses ; the abdominal muscles being 
deprived of exercise, become flabby and weak. 
Such habitual relaxation of these contractile 
tissues should not be confounded with the volun- 
tary relaxation for rest, elsewhere mentioned; 
the one is the relaxation of weakness denoting 
lack of control; the other, the relaxation of 
strength denoting control. 

A sure preventive of, and one of the most efficient 
remedies for, corpulency is such exercise as calls 
the abdominal muscles into special activity. As the 
muscles are strengthened by exercise, the fatty 
tissue is burned off. To use a homely illustration : 
fowls are confined in limited quarters to fatten 
them ; as the muscles become weak from inactivity, 
adipose accumulates. If the fowls are allowed to 
roam about, to exercise, they run the fat off and 
their muscles become firm and strong, or ' ' tough. " 



Corpulency. 127 

Corpulency can be most effectively combated 
not, as might at first be supposed, by exercise of 
the legs as in walking, running and kneeling, but 
by movements of the arms and the shoulders, 
which draw the abdominal muscles upward ; also, 
by the direct exercise of these muscles in certain 
breathing and torso-bending movements. 

The fact that persons are not corpulent who 
follow occupations that require the arms to be 
raised much— as painters, paperers, plasterers— is 
evidence of the strength that such upward arm 
movements give to the abdominal muscles. It 
has been observed that washerwomen, a class 
who use their arms much, are often corpulent 
and otherwise shapeless. Washerwomen do have 
much arm exercise but not in reaching upward. 

Too much emphasis cannot be laid upon the fact 
that indiscriminate exercise is not sufficient to keep 
our bodies symmetrical, healthy, or harmonious 
in movement. In truth, housework and manual 
labor in general, as well as brain work, increase 
rather than diminish the necessity for systematic, 
nerve-soothing exercise. The restricted mechan- 
ical movements that are made day after day in any 



128 Self- Expression and Health. 

ordinary labor or occupation, make the body either 
dull and heavy, or nervous and angular, in move- 
ment. Labor necessitating mechanical motions 
forms a large portion of the occupations of mankind, 
but the deteriorating effects of such work can be 
counteracted by the freeing, and the rhythmical 
movements of Health and Self -Expression culture. 

Women are not responsible for their features, 
but they are, in a large degree, responsible for 
their figures. All cannot, of course, have the 
height or the size they most admire, but neither 
of these constitutes a good figure. Proportion, 
not height nor size, is the chief characteristic of a 
beautiful figure, and nearly everyone can have a 
well-proportioned body by paying the price for it ; 
namely, exercise. 

When we grow to an appreciation of the beau- 
tiful lines of the normal human figure, we shall 
earnestly seek to exemplify ' ' the good, the true, 
the beautiful" in our bodies; then, full, well- 
developed chests, delicately poised heads, firm, 
young muscles will be the rule, and protruding, 
heavy abdomens will be the exception. 



J 



XIII. 
EVADING OLD AGE. 



LESSON TALK. 

It is possible to be seventy years young instead of forty 
years old. 

—Oliver Wetirldl Holmes. 

\\ THAT is old age? Not the lines of expres- 
* * sion on the face which are the carvings of 
thought and emotion; not the soft, white hair 
that is like a halo of purity about the face. 
It is rather, as relates to the body, loss of elastic- 
ity, or vigor, of the power to do certain physical 
acts that were once as spontaneous as play. 

Can a person avoid growing old? To a great 
extent, yes. Of course, a person cannot always 
remain only twenty years old or avoid being sixty 
years old ultimately, but he can prevent the 
marked difference in the physical condition be- 
tween those two ages. The years will roll cease- 
lessly by, unheeding individuals, but each individ- 



130 Self- Expression and Health. 

ual has the power to determine in a large degree 
what the effect of those years shall be on him- 
self. Experience furnishes many proofs in point : 
a noted danseuse of seventy- five had all the light- 
ness and flexibility of a young girl ; a tight-rope 
walker was expert at eighty; a dancing master 
was lithe and graceful at seventy-eight. Such 
illustrations of youth retained by exercise suggest 
approximate possibilities for all. Years should 
bring a ripening, enriching influence to the mind, 
but not infirmity to the body. That they often 
fail to bring the former and do result in the latter, 
is due to pernicious habits, mental and physical. 
It is generally recognized that ' ' old age " is a 
relative term. There is no point in years when a 
vigorous, young-feeling and young-acting person 
must be called old ; while others are old long be- 
fore they reach fifty years. "Asa man thinketh 
in his heart so is he," is true regarding the phys- 
ical, as well as the spiritual, man. We expect old 
age and we are not disappointed ; we believe that 
the years must bring decrepitude and they do; 
moreover, we hasten the condition that we expect 
by allowing bad physical habits to enchain us. 



Evading Obi Age. 131 

How often a woman of forty has the form and 
the physical expression of a decrepit woman of 
eighty. Such are in reproachful contrast with 
some dear great great-grandmothers who are " as 
straight as an arrow " — really young in heart and 
body. Old young bodies are not according to 
Nature's order ; indeed, the contrary condition is 
promised: -'And the child "—not the infirm, old 
man— " shall die an hundred years old." Longev- 
ity in itself is not always " a consummation de- 
voutly to be wished." 

How can we keep our bodies young •? As Ban- 
croft did, as Gladstone has— by systematic exer- 
cise. 

People frequently say, ' 1 1 believe in physical 
culture ; I would join a class but I am too old, my 
muscles are too stiff." Physical education should 
not be limited to the period of youth; indeed, 
those who begin to feel the weight of years, or 
rather, the crippling effect of bad physical habits, 
need the help that can be derived from rational 
physical culture even more than the young do. 

By regaining lost flexibility and strength, and 
learning to economically use his nerve-force, it is 



1B2 Self- Expression and Health. 

possible for many a middle-aged person to make 
"his last years his best years," physically. One 
cannot be too old to exercise. So long as we 
abide in our bodies, we should strengthen them 
by daily exercise as much as by daily food. 

Regarding stiff muscles— but why regard the- 
oretically what do not exist in reality ? Muscles 
are never stiff unless the flesh be swollen or 
frozen. Muscles that are called stiff are either 
tense or weak : if tense, the remedy is exercise 
that will produce muscular passivity; if weak, 
the remedy is exercise that will produce strength. 
Let a person be compelled to maintain a recumbent 
position for weeks and, although there be noth- 
ing the matter with the leg muscles, he will find 
on attempting to walk that by Misuse these natu- 
rally strong, obedient muscles have become as 
weak and ungovernable as a baby's ; but they are 
not stiff. 

Muscles that are not duly exercised lose their 
shape, firmness and strength. Nowhere else does 
this muscular degeneracy so rapidly ' ■ steal away 
our youth " as in the waist muscles. A woman is 
twenty years older or younger, in looks and feel- 



Evading Old Age. 133 

iligs, according to the condition and the use of 
these muscles. 

Joints may become stiffened and " run hard/ 1 
as do the bearings of a machine that has long 
been unused. Oil and exercise are the remedies 
for the body as for the machine. To provide 
the exercise is each person's responsibility ; that 
being done, Nature will prepare and apply the 
synovial lubricating fluid. 

Dr. William G. Hammond says, ''If it were 
possible so to adjust the repair to the waste of 
the body that neither would be in excess, there is 
no physiological reason why life, if protected 
against accident, should not continue indefi- 
nitely." With many, waste begins to exceed 
repair as soon as childhood's irresponsible period is 
passed. The main cause of this loss of balance is 
tension. [See chapters on "Relaxation, Recep- 
tivity, Recuperation," "Insomnia" and "How to 
Rest."] 

It is a noticeable fact that women who lead 
broad lives, who are actively engaged in public 
work— literary, social, church and reform move- 
ments — remain young longer than do those 



134 Self -Expression and Health. 

whose lives are ; ' narrowed in a narrow sphere. " 
This is not because of the difference in the kind of 
work, but because of the difference in the thoughts 
back of the work. 

When the thoughts are not somewhat occupied 
with general interests, one is liable to become too 
much absorbed in self. Such absorption leads to 
selfishness ; selfishness causes tension, limits the 
sympathies, prejudices the mind, and ages the body . 
Who ever associated anything but age with the 
thought of a recluse, or a hermit. The fountain 
of rejuvenescence is fed by human sympathies. 

Whatever their vocation, women should realize 
that the boundless sphere of helpful, beautiful and 
beautifying thought belongs to all ; we have but 
to take possession of our own. Let us expel 
thoughts of infirmity, of time ; let us guard 
against the bodily manifestations of age. Let us 
hold ever the thought of Eternal Life, realizing 
that Now is a part of Eternity and that the spirit 
is ever young. 



XIV. 

THE SECRET OF SYMMETRY AND 
YOUTHFULNESS. 



EXERCISES FOR PRACTICE. 

All means that conduce to health can neither be too 

painful nor too dear to me. 

—Montaigne. 

Everything depends upon exercising the trunk, which 
gives poise and motion, and whenever you can substitute 
a more deliberate motion or rhythm of work and speech, 
you are substituting a healthy for a morbid nervous 

diathesis. 

—Dr. G. Stanley Hall. 

/ T^HE exercises of Self -Expression and Health 
-*■ culture help to keep the body young and 
symmetrical. 

They remove tension; tension causes decrepi- 
tude by increasing the waste, and obstructing the 
repair, of the body. 

They produce and preserve flexibility ; flexi- 
bility is a distinguishing characteristic of youth. 

They establish a correct poise of the body, 



136 Self- Expression and Health. 

without which the figure cannot maintain its 
true proportion ; lacking that poise, even a child's 
body may take on an appearance of old age or 
of deformity. 

They forestall corpulency and decrepitude by 
fortifying those parts of the body that are their 
favorite points of attack ; namely, the waist and 
abdominal regions. Upon the firmness, the vigor 
and the suppleness of these zones, depend youth- 
fulness and bodily symmetry. 

While there are certain exercises that particu- 
larly ward off those undesirable conditions, cor- 
pulency and decrepitude, it is essential that the 
general exercises for the use, the control and 
the development of the body, should first be 
mastered. One cannot learn to walk well be- 
fore he learns to stand well; in like manner, 
the benefits to be derived from special exercises 
depend upon the previous preparation therefor. 



EXERCISE XXIX. 

Hold some thought of controlled force. 
Standing upon the right leg, swing the left 
leg backward, letting the toe touch the ground as 



Symmetry and Youthfulness. 137 

in a backward step. Transfer the weight to the 
left leg, and lift the forward foot from the 
ground. (1) Keeping the whole of the left foot 
upon the ground, raise and lower the body rap- 
idly several times by bending and straightening 
the left leg. (2) Repeat the movement, rest- 
ing only the ball of the back foot on the ground. 

This exercise develops strength and control in 
the muscles of the legs which should be used in 
the acts of rising and sitting. 

In going upstairs, the same principle should 
be observed as in rising from a chair. A woman 
should not extravagantly bend over to pick up 
the dress and with the body in that bent position, 
push it upstairs, reaching the top exhausted and 
out of breath. Instead, she should lift the dress 
with an independent movement of the arms, hold 
the body erect, the chest being expanded as in 
Exercise XVIII. , and let the legs do the work 
of carrying the body up the stairs. 

Some women dread to mount a flight of stairs, 
believing that they suffer positive injury from 
so doing. In most instances, the injury results 
from the way in which the act is performed. 



138 Self -Expression and Health. 

Eminent physicians prescribe stair-mounting 
for heart troubles. Avoiding any extra phys- 
ical exertion is inadequate protection for a heart 
whose action is weak. No person can be insured 
against the sudden excitement of grief, joy, or 
surprise, which would cause the blood to rush to 
the heart with increased force. If the heart has 
gradually been strengthened by daily physical ex- 
ercise that makes it do a little more pumping 
than is required for the ordinary acts of life, it is 
then prepared for emergencies. 

Much less energy is expended in ascending 
stairs with a light, springing step, letting only 
the balls of the feet touch the stairs, than when 
the step is heavy and a momentary rest is made 
upon each stair. It is with the human body as 
with other objects: when it is at rest, a certain 
amount of force must be exerted to overcome its 
inertia, but once this is overcome, the momentum 
created tends to continue the movement. There 
should be but one impetus in bringing the torso 
forward, in rising and walking ; to make two or 
three separate movements here is to waste force 
and to lose beauty of expression. 



Symmetry and Youthfulness. 139 

EXERCISE XXX. 

1 [old some thought of expansion. 

Stand erect with the weight on both feet, the 
arms hanging relaxed. From the shoulder 
rotate the arms inward moving them forward 
until the backs of the hands nearly touch, then 
raise the upper arms until the forearms and the 
hands hang pendent in front of the chest. At 
this point, slowly but simultaneously rise on the 
balls of the feet, take a deep inspiration and 
raise the arms high over the head, letting the 
tips of the relaxed * fingers of the two hands 
lightly touch one another. With a flexible 
wrist movement daintily raise the hands, then 
with energy rotate the arms outward moving 
them downward ; when they are directly in line 
with the shoulders, palms backward, vigorously 
press backward with the hands, keeping the chest 
up and the head well poised. Hold this energized 
position a moment, then quietly exhale and, at 
the same time, come down upon the whole of the 
feet, letting the arms sink to the sides. Without 
interrupting the movement of the arms, repeat 
the exercise ten or twenty times. 



140 Self -Expression and Health. 

If only one gymnastic exercise were to be prac- 
ticed daily, this all-around one would be advisable 
in most cases. By it, the whole body is invigorated, 
the abdominal muscles are made firm without pos- 
sible injury, the lungs expanded, the chest muscle 
developed, the shoulder-blades flattened, the arms 
rounded, and the back, waist and leg muscles 
strengthened. While respiration and circulation 
are stimulated, the nervous system is tranquilized. 

This exercise is one continuous movement, but 
it includes relaxation, energization and guidance 
of the nerve-force ; it is because of this variety 
that it can be repeated many times without 
fatigue. The effect is elevation, physical, mental 
and spiritual. The chest is raised, the emotive 
zone is expanded, the abdominal zone is held up, 
the knee-joints are straight and the body is poised 
lightly on the balls of the feet, while the arms by 
their action tend further to uplift and to expand 
the body physically ; there will be a correspond- 
ing spiritual and mental inspiration. As we 
yield to gravitation and let the head, the chest, 
the abdomen, the knees, sink, we become heavy 
in movement and despondent in expression. 



Symmetry and Youth fulness. 141 

EXERCISE XXXI. 

Hold some thought of vigor. 

Advance one foot as in a long step and stand 
with the weight on it. Extending the arms par- 
allel to each other in front until they are in line 
with the shoulders, energize them and close the 
hands as if each were firmly grasping a rope. 
Keeping the eyes steadily fixed on some point 
about two feet above their level, inhale, and 
slowly but with great energy pull the extended 
arms down and well backward ; at the same time, 
bend the torso forward but do not transfer the 
weight of the body. The head bends backward 
in opposition to the torso. Hold the energized 
position thus secured for a moment, then with- 
draw all unnecessary nerve-force . from the 
muscles and exhale as the body rhythmically 
returns to its original position. 

Repeat several times in succession. 

It is helpful in this exercise to imagine that by, 
means of two ropes, one is pulling some heavy 
weight that must be moved with care and not 
jostled. Put all the force possible in the arms, 



142 Self- Expression and Health. 

and brace firmly with the forward foot, but do 
not strain with the back. This educates the arms 
and the legs in lifting and so relieves the over- 
worked back. The back often ages under burdens 
not its own. 

This exercise is also admirable for strengthen- 
ing the lungs and developing the chest. Drawing 
the arms vigorously backward as the torso bends 
forward and the head moves in the opposite 
direction, exercises all of the chest muscles, and 
will fill out the hollows in the neck, if much 
practiced. 



EXERCISE XXXII. 

Hold some thought of buoyancy. 

Fold the forearms firmly across each other back 
of the head, keeping the chest well up and pois- 
ing the head slightly backward. Raise the heels 
as high as possible, and with a free swing from 
the thigh, walk lightly and rapidly on the balls of 
the feet. 

Unless a good poise is maintained there will be 
an unpleasant strain on the muscles of the back ; 



Symmetry and Youthfulness. 143 

but if the torso is kept well forward, the back 
muscles will not be fatigued. 

The arms should be held in position, not allowed 
to weigh against the head or to push it forward ; 
the amount of exercise given to the abdominal 
muscles will be in proportion to the energy used 
in raising the shoulders and the arms. Dr. John 
Harvey Kellogg says, " Properly graduated exer- 
cise, with such an adjustment of the clothing as 
will afford opportunity for free and unrestricted 
movements of every group of muscles in the 
body, is a most important therapeutic means in 
the management of a large class of pelvic dis- 
orders." Exercises that stretch the abdominal 
muscles upward counteract, in a measure, the 
evil effects of heavy skirts and of a careless poise. 
If the figure is normal, a few minutes' daily prac- 
tice will suffice as the " ounce of prevention/' but 
if there are abnormal conditions to be overcome, 
it is necessary to take the " pound of cure." 



EXERCISE XXXIII. 

Hold some thought of animation. 

Stand erect, with the weight upon the left foot. 



144 Self- Expression and Health. 

To four slow counts, simultaneously raise the 
right arm diagonally forward shoulder high, and 
advance the right foot as far as possible without 
moving the body. On the next four counts 
slowly inhale, transfer the weight to the forward 
foot, raise the right arm to a vertical position; 
lift the relaxed hands until the palm of the right 
one faces the ceiling and the palm of the left one 
faces the ground. Energize all the limbs and 
vigorously push with them ; the left foot will be 
lifted from the ground by the upward push of the 
right hand. Hold this animated position steadily 
as long as the breath can easily be retained, then 
exhale and take a momentary rest by relaxing 
the hands and letting the toe of the back foot 
touch the ground ; after which, inhale, energize, 
push, and hold the position as before. Exhale, 
relax the hands and let the toe of the back foot 
touch the ground; on four counts transfer the 
weight to the back foot and bring the right arm 
down to a level with the shoulder. On the next 
four counts, the arm and leg are brought back to 
their original positions. 



Symmetry and Youthfuhiess. 145 

EXERCISE XXXIV. 

This exercise is identical with the preceding 
one, except that the arm and the leg are moved 
directly out at the side in line with the strong leg. 



EXERCISE XXXV. 

This exercise is similar to Exercise XXXIII. , the 
variation consisting in the different direction 
taken by the corresponding arm and leg. In 
Exercise XXXIII. these two members move in the 
same direction, whereas, in this exercise, as the 
right arm is advanced in front, the right leg is 
swung back ; the weight is transferred to the back 
leg and the arm is brought vertically up as before. 
In pushing, the forward foot is raised from the 
ground. 

These poising exercises strengthen and invigor- 
ate the entire body ; they are especially effectual 
in straightening figures that are somewhat stoop- 
ed, and in overcoming corpulency by making the 
waist and abdominal muscles firm. Whenever a 
muscle is strengthened, it is guarded against 



146 Self- Expression and Health. 

superfluous adipose tissue. The side poise particu- 
larly affects the muscles over the hips. 

It is essential in these poising exercises, that the 
arm and the leg move in perfect rhythm, begin- 
ning their movements as with one impulse and 
ending them together. This gives control over 
the members and healthfully affects the nerve- 
centers. Dr. G. Stanley Hall says, "There is one 
subject (rhythm) that is fundamental and yet is 
often ignored. ... I do not believe it is easy to 
overestimate the importance of it. There is a 
profound and close relationship between our 
muscle habits in that respect and thinking." 



EXERCISE XXXVI. ' 

Hold some thought of rhythm. 

Standing in normal poise, inhale and raise the 
arms laterally to the level of the shoulders with 
the hands extended, palms upward. Keeping the 
arms and hands in this position, slowly bend the 
torso to the right side. After holding the position 
a moment, raise the torso to its normal poise, then 
let the arms sink to the sides as the breath is 
gently exhaled. 



Symmetry and Yoxdhfulness. 147 

Inhale and raise the arms as before ; twist the 
torso to the right and bend backward in a direct 
line with the right arm. After holding the posi- 
tion for a moment, raise the torso, untwist it, and 
then let the arms sink to the sides as the breath is 
exhaled. 

These bending and twisting exercises develop 
control and flexibility; they give a rounded con- 
tour to the waist, strengthen the back and 
abdominal muscles and prevent an undue accumu- 
lation of adipose tissue over the hips. They are, 
however, quite severe and should not be taken 
until the torso muscles have been prepared some- 
what by the practice of easier movements. The 
strength and the condition of the individual should 
always determine the amount and the kind of 
exercise to be taken. Although women deterio- 
rate physically more from lack of exercise than 
from any other cause, save tension, it is better for 
those who are commencing to discipline their 
bodies -to underdo than to overdo in exercising. All 
growth is gradual. 



148 Self -Expression and Health. 

EXERCISE XXXVII. 

Hold some thought of suppleness. 

Take a wider base than is habitual and put the 
weight entirely on the left leg ; raise the left arm 
until it is directly vertical and close to the side of 
the head, the palm being turned inward. Inhale 
and stretch vigorously upward on the left side, the 
whole of the left foot remaining on the floor. The 
right side is free and acts as a balancing weight. 
Exhale and slightly relax muscles of left side and 
limbs ; then inhale and repeat the stretch. Keep- 
ing the weight on left foot, exhale and relax 
toward the right side successively, the fingers of the 
uplifted member, the hand, forearm, arm, then 
the head, shoulders and bodj^. The right arm 
and leg remain free. Slowly energize the torso, 
shoulders, arm, forearm, hand, fingers, and again 
vigorously stretch upward. Gently relax, let left 
arm sink and, at the same time, transfer weight 
to the right foot. 

Repeat exercise on right side. 

This exercise is one of the best to keep the 
muscles young and elastic in action, and to keep 



Symmetry and Youthfulness. 149 

the waist and hip muscles firm and strong, thus 
preventing the accumulation of adipose tissue; it 
also stimulates all the digestive functions. 

The daily practice of this exercise is especially 
recommended to stout people and to those who 
are inert and heavy in movement. Anyone who 
has pelvic trouble should be cautious in taking 
this, or any other movement where the torso is 
bent sideways or backward. 



EXERCISE XXXVIII. 

Hold some thought of precision. 

Sit erect, the arms and the legs being relaxed 
and the head well poised. Keeping the head on 
a horizontal plane, slowly turn it until it is 
directly over the right shoulder; then bend it 
backward in a diagonal line, until the face is 
turned directly toward the ceiling, and then 
forcibly rotate, or screw, the head around to the 
other shoulder. Slowly lift the head (the face 
will be over the left shoulder) and turn it 
forward and to the right shoulder again. 

Repeat several times, each time turning the 
head more slowly. 



150 Self -Expression and Health. 

In turning the head, the torso should not move, 
nor the chin be elevated ; the movement should 
be continuous and smooth. 

One of the places where the marks of age are 
first seen is in the muscles of the neck. From 
lack of exercise, these muscles become weak and 
flaccid. Good poise of the head can be developed, 
and nervous, jerky movements of that member be 
overcome by this exercise; also, severe pain at 
the base of the brain has often been relieved 
by it. 



EXERCISE XXXIX. 

Hold some thought of flexibility. 

Standing in the normal poise, raise the arms 
straight up from the shoulders, rise on the balls 
of the feet and energetically stretch upward; 
come down slowly upon the feet and, being care- 
ful to keep the knees straight, at the same time, 
bend at the hips and reach outward as if trying 
to touch the circumference of a large circle. 
After reaching outward and downward as far as 
possible, instantaneously relax all of the muscles 
except those of the legs ; then allowing the energy 



Symmetry and Youthfulness. 151 

to creep gradually upward, rise to an upright 
position. 

In bending forward a strain is brought back of 
the knee, but as no vital organs are situated there, 
no injury will result from it. There should not 
be even a suggestion of strain in the muscles of 
the back. When the arms are first relaxed, they 
will oscillate like pendulums. 

That this exercise gives great flexibility is 
proven by the fact that some persons when first 
attempting it, cannot ' touch the ground with 
their fingers within several inches ; by practice, 
they are enabled not only to touch it, but often- 
times to place the palms of the hands flat down. 
If a woman thirty years old can thus touch the 
ground by devoting three minutes each day to 
the practice of this exercise, would she not be 
able to do the same at seventy or ninety years of 
age ? Surely such practice would be a small 
price to pay for continued youthful flexibility. 



XV. 

INSOMNIA. 



LESSON TALK. 

Oh sweet f orgetf ulness of sleep ! 
Oh bliss, to drop the pride of dress, 
And all the shams o'er which we weep. 

****** 

At morning only— strong, erect— 
We find refreshed our self-respect. 

-J. G. Holland. 

T TNPLEASANT as insomnia is in itself, it 
^^ is but the premonition of worse derange- 
ments ; as, nervous prostration, softening of the 
brain, paralysis, insanity. Small wonder that 
some of the ablest minds in the medical pro- 
fession to-day consider it one of the principal 
dangers that threaten civilized man, and that 
they seek to find some safe remedy for it ; safe, 
because the drugs that effect this condition, 
such as bromides, chloral, opium, are scarcely 
less injurious to the brain and the nervous system 
than is the continued loss of sleep. 



Insomnia. 153 

What is sleep and what constitutes it ''Tired 
Nature's sweet restorer " ? Seemingly, nothing 
that is sustaining, as food or drink, enters the 
system during sleep, except air, and the difference 
between one's breathing when awake and when 
asleep, is not sufficient to account for the restora- 
tion of depleted forces that occurs during sleep. 

The recuperation of the wasted powers during 
sleep is due to no known cause in the body 
itself. There is no organ that has any such ex- 
traordinary repairing function ; moreover, during 
sleep all the organs fall into partial, or entire 
passivity while the restoration is taking place. 
It is plain that the rebuilding of the body, the 
brain and nerves during sleep, is done by a 
force from outside the body and beyond the 
volition. This force is active; it sustains life; 
hence it is named vital energy. More than this 
concerning it even the most profound scientists 
know not. Everywhere, in plants, animals, man, 
are seen its manifestations, but the force itself 
eludes man's most scrutinizing search. 

Sufficient for our present purpose is the 
knowledge that this supply of life is of Divine 



154 Self-Expression and Health. 

origin; that it is not generated in the body; that 
the body is only an instrument through and on 
which vital energy acts ; and that certain bodily 
conditions are favorable, while other conditions 
are unfavorable, to its reception. This vital 
energy is inexhaustible and is available to every 
person ; if allowed free inflow it will always give 
' ' life abundant. " We ignorantly refuse to admit 
it when we put tension into our bodies. Tension 
always interrupts the harmonious action of the 
life currents. In sleep, conscious thought and 
will are at least semi-passive, and according to 
the degree of their passivity is the amount of 
benefit derived from the sleep ; for the results of 
sleep— rest and restoration— are only the effects 
of the inflowing of this vital energy. 

There is sleep and sleep. Frequently when a 
person is in a nervous, tense state, a fitful sleep 
supervenes from sheer physical exhaustion ; as 
he begins to doze, the dominant habit of ten- 
sion reasserts itself and he awakens to full 
consciousness with a start, often accompanied 
by a nightmare sensation of falling down a flight 
of stairs or a precipice. Such sleep brings but 



Insomnia. L55 

slight refreshment to the tired brain and body. 
Even when thought gives up its conscious sway, 
the nerves remain taut — ready, like the horses of 
a fire engine, to spring into action at a touch or 
a sound. 

The remark is sometimes made, ' ' I slept 
so hard, I am tired." This is a self-evident 
absurdity; the "hard" was not in the degree 
or the quality of the sleep, but in the hard, 
strained condition of the nerves which prevented 
restful reinforcement by vital energy. 

People who work with little hurry and less 
worry, require the least sleep of any ; they expend 
nerve-force economically; moreover, there being 
no abnormal tension, partial restoration takes 
place even while they work. Such people, how- 
ever, usually do sleep more than nervous people ; 
having but little tension in the body at any time, 
it is easy to surrender that little. Theirs is the 
"balmy," childlike sleep that upbuilds and 
beautifies. 

The all-important question is, How can nor- 
mal sleep be induced ? Plainly, by getting rid of 
the adverse conditions that prevent it. Chief 



156 Self- Expression and Health. 

among these conditions are muscular strain 
and mental excitation. First, we need to free 
ourselves of all tension, to surrender self, to 
make our bodies as heavy and relaxed as is 
the body of an intoxicated man, in whom the 
mind is stupefied and all volition suspended. 

Another excellent illustration of a perfectly 
relaxed state is that of the healthy sleeping 
baby. How heavy is the hanging arm, or leg, 
or head ! 

Of course, with the sleeping baby and the in- 
toxicated man, the muscular relaxation is 
simply an effect corresponding to a similar 
passive state of the mind. Outward manifesta- 
tions are always reflections of inner states ; but, 
while we acknowledge the sovereign sway of 
the mind, we can by physical exercises steal 
a march, as it were, on the thoughts. By exer- 
cise we change the circulation of the blood, 
change the vibrations of the nerve-currents; 
and thus, while the mind indirectly, or auto- 
matically, has guidance of the exercise, the 
thoughts themselves are changed — a double 
effect, physiological and psychological. To stop 



Insomnia. 

thinking or to control the distracting thoughts 
would seem a hopeless task to many; but to 
know that it is possible for a nervously tense 
body, by the practice of certain exercise- 
become a restfully relaxed body, its stiff 
stubbornness to become graceful obedience, and 
the mind gradually to become sympathetic with 
the body, should give encouragement to those 
who are nervous and sleepless. 

AVe woo sleep when we yield the body, when 
it feels like a heavy mass, — so heavy that it 
would require a great effort to lift even one of 
the dead-heavy arms. This sensation of muscular 
weight is experienced when one is partially 
aroused from slumber before he is rested; we 
can then even sense the weight of the eyelids as 
we languidly open them. 

To get a realization of the weight of the en- 
tire body, have two friends support you by 
holding you at the waist and by the arms, as 
you fall like a lifeless weight ; if you completely 
relinquish all control of your body, it will be with 
difficulty that your friends can keep the relaxed, 
heavy mass from the floor. Sometimes a little 



158 Self -Expression and Health. 

child instinctively makes its body limp and unman- 
ageable when its inclination is opposed. 

As we lie in bed we should relax and get a similar 
sensation of the heaviness of the body ; then we 
are scientifically seeking sleep. Instead of this, 
when wakeful, we vainly wish and wish that we 
could sleep, and roll and toss wearily from side to 
side. When we hold ourselves as if in action, in- 
stead of letting the bed hold us, we repulse sleep. 
Such activity means tension and tension is the 
arch-enemy of sleep. 

Physical relaxation is not, however, all that is 
necessary to induce sleep. We must also be able 
to banish the anxieties and hobgoblins that are 
prone to haunt the tortured hours of night. We 
must have control of the thoughts as well as of 
the body. 

This power can be gained in two ways : either 
indirectly by exercises (see specific exercises in 
the following chapter), or by the direct effort 
of mental concentration. Muscular passivity 
is, however, requisite for true mental concen- 
tration because muscular tension absorbs and 
wastes the energy that should be centered on 



Insomnia 159 

the thought. Concentration does not neces- 
sarily imply intensity or importance of thought, 
but singleness, or isolation, of thought. It is 
11 thinking at a mark and hitting it." The great 
value of concentration as a sleep-promoter is that 
it gathers all nerve- force to a center and employs 
it upon one simple operation of the mind; when all 
the nerve -force is so focused, it is an easy matter 
to relinquish that single hold on consciousness. 

Concentration can be developed by an effort 
of the will. The will rightly used is a source of 
power ; its expression in tension is a perversion of 
its rightful use which works evil to mind and 
body. Rightly used, the will becomes the power 
that determines the character of the thoughts 
and gives them guidance. One has said, "The 
thoughts are the builders but the will is the 
architect." The action of the will is easily per- 
ceived. Try to exclude all other thoughts and 
to hold but one, as " God is Love " ; in a second 
or so, some other thought will rush in, but by 
an act of conscious will, the intruding thought 
can be rejected and the attention returned to 
" God is Love," Again and again will irrelevant. 



160 Self- Expression and Health. 

undesired thoughts force themselves into the 
mind, but they can be as persistently banished by 
the will. With every such exercise of the will, 
the power to concentrate the thoughts increases. 

It is a healthful use of the will to keep destruc- 
tive tension-thoughts out of the mind and to hold 
restful, upbuilding ones in their stead. Nor 
is this a stupendous task; on the contrary, 
it is a simple and a delightful one withal. 
Delightful, because the first successful attempt at 
concentration gives a new sense of power; one 
begins to be his own master. 

In seeking sleep all one has to deal with is the 
present moment. See that the present thought is 
a constructive, wholesome one. Do not anxiously 
seek to probe the future, nor look back regretfully 
at the past, for that kind of "looking backward" 
in itself provokes tension. Realize only the 
present; it is a part of eternity and the only part 
with which we have to cope. 

When seeking sleep we are seeking oblivion 
from the affairs of our material existence. What 
folly, then, to obstinately cling to them as we 
do, when in thought we plan what we shall 



Insomnia. 161 

do, say, wear, eat, or see; or, when we review 
what we did do, say, wear, eat, or see at some 
previous time, in thought trying to improve 
upon the past ! This is clinging to action while 
courting repose. 

Let go physically ; abnegate all muscular con- 
trol. Concentrate the thoughts upon some 
abstract, impersonal subject, upon the re- 
creative power of sleep, or upon the tranquil 
joy of wholly yielding the "individual to the 
universal." Realize that we are resting in the 
"eternal arms." Lay aside personal desires 
and wait as the Greeks did when "The soul 
waits upon the gods." Such states are in them- 
selves recuperative and induce sleep when the 
system requires it. 



XVI. 
WOOING MORPHEUS. 



EXERCISES FOR PRACTICE. 

Man's rich restorative ; his balmy bath, 
That supples, lubricates, and keeps in play 
The various movements of this nice machine, 
Which asks such frequent periods of repair. 

— Young's "Night Tlioughts." 

/ T^HE immediate cause of insomnia is abnor- 
-*■ mal activity of the brain which draws 
an undue amount of blood to that organ. Cold 
feet usually accompany a heated brain. To re- 
establish normal conditions, the tension must 
be removed and the blood drawn from the brain 
to the extremities, thus equalizing the circula- 
tion. Then, by soothing, pacific exercises that 
shall quiet the nerves and at the same time 
concentrate the wandering, distracted thoughts, 
sleep can be induced. 

Relaxing exercises (see Chapter VII.) alone 
are oftentimes sufficient to banish insomnia, if 



Wooing Morpheus. 163 

it has not become habitual. In all cases these 
exercises must have been so well perfected that 
one can instantaneously relax the voluntary 
muscular system; not until one has gained this 
power is one prepared to advantageously take the 
special exercises for overcoming sleeplessness. 

Just before retiring take the following exercises 
in the order as given : 

Vigorously take Exercise XXII. several times 
in quick succession. This will occasion a gen- 
eral vibration of nerve- force and, by causing an 
increase in the circulation, will overcome a 
tendency to congestion in any part of the body. 



EXERCISE XL. 

Hold some thought of resistance. 

The weight being on one foot, extend the other 
a long step diagonally forward, touching the toe 
to the ground. Partially transfer the weight to 
the forward leg, at the same time bend that knee 
as much as possible and raise the heel high from 
the ground, keeping tke whole of the back foot on 
the ground until this position of the bent knee and 
the raised heel of the forward leg is firmly taken. 



164 Self -Expression and Health. 

Then, gradually pull all but the toe of the back 
foot from the ground, while forcibly pressing down 
with the forward leg, as if overcoming a strong 
resistance. The forward knee straightens, the 
whole foot comes to the ground and the weight is 
entirely transferred to the forward leg, during the 
movement. Slowly transfer the weight to the 
back leg, forcibly pushing that foot to the ground 
as the heel of the forward foot rises. Repeat these 
movements several times ; after which, alternately 
bend the knees and rise on the balls of the feet 
rapidly, six or eight times. 

There should be no straining or pushing with 
the torso ; it should be maintained easily erect and 
free from tension ; nor should the arms work, nor 
the head be held, nor the face muscles be contracted. 
The legs only are energized. 

If sufficient force is exerted in pressing the feet 
to the ground, after five minutes' practice they 
will glow and tingle ; should this not result, it is 
evidence that the exercise has not been correctly 
done. That the extremities be warm is a necessary 
condition for reposeful slumber. Causing the 



Wooing Morpheus. 1G~> 

blood to vigorously course through the legs and 
the feet, removes stimulation from the brain and 
thus produces another condition essential for sleep. 
To obtain a similar effect, physicians sometimes 
advise the taking of some light nourishment just 
before retiring, in order to make the digestive 
organs act. Activity in any part of the organism 
causes an increased flow of blood to that part. 

This exercise also develops strength in the legs 
and flexibility in the feet; it is an aid to an elastic, 
graceful walk. Cramps in the feet have also been 
overcome by it. 



EXERCISE XLI. 

Hold some thought of tranquility. 

Sitting erect so that the feet easily rest upon the 
ground, look steadily at some point in the ceiling 
while taking five slow, deep breaths. Let the eye- 
lids droop heavily and the head sink gently until 
the chin rests upon the chest then relax the back 
as far as possible, vertebra by vertebra ; last of all 
the hip joints act, causing the relaxed torso to 
sway forward until it reaches the lap— the head 
still being pendent . In returning to the original 



166 Self- Expression and Health, 

position, reverse the order of action : the hip- joints 
act first and the motion creeps into the back until 
the spinal column regains its double curve which 
lifts the chest ; then the head almost imperceptibly 
lifts to its normal poise, after which the eyelids 
languidly open as do a baby's when the little one 
seems unwilling to surrender to heavy drowsiness. 

This exercise secures a threefold benefit; it 
develops singleness of attention, it partially stupe- 
fies the brain and it directly soothes the nerves. 
Affect the spinal column in any way and the whole 
nervous system sympathizes. When correctly 
done this exercise always produces a sensation of 
sleepiness. It is, however, difficult to get the 
controlled, even motion which is essential in order 
to tranquilize the nerves; this usually requires 
considerable practice under the direct attention of 
a teacher. 

With some, isolating the thought from worldly 
and personal affairs for a few minutes is in itself 
sufficient to induce sleep. The success of such 
simple sleep-producing devices as counting suppos- 
ititious black cats, watching imaginary sheep jump 



Wooing Morpheus. 167 

a fence, or reciting difficult rules, is due to holding 
the attention to one subject. When a movement 
that directly quiets the nerves is combined with 
such isolation of thought, there is a double influ- 
ence exerted in favor of sleep. 

Again, the pendulous position of the head causes 
more blood than is normal to remain in the blood- 
vessels of the brain ; they become distended and 
by their pressure upon the brain produce a semi- 
stupor. Thus, through exercise an over-stimu- 
lated condition of the brain may be changed into 
its opposite condition— stupor.* The immediate 
effect of this exercise on the brain is similar 
to that produced by soporific drugs, but there 
are none of the evil after-effects of those 
drugs, because the exercise produces simply a 
temporary drowsiness that soon passes away as 
the circulation becomes natural ; but during those 
few moments of stupor, sleep may claim her own. 

This exercise should occupy at least three 
minutes ; the slower the movement, so that it be 



* For an analysis of the difference between stupor and 
stimulation of the brain, see Dr. Wm. G. Hammond's work 
on "Sleep. 1 ' 



168 Self -Expression and Health. 

continuous, the better the results. If done slowly 
and rhythmically, not more than three or five 
repetitions should be required to produce drowsi- 
ness sufficient to make one able to unreservedly 
relax and sleep. 

It is needless to say that this exercise must never 
be taken in tight clothing. Before commencing 
it, one should be prepared for retiring even to 
having extinguished the light, so that no irrelevant 
thought or action shall divert the attention, or 
disturb the induced somnolent condition. 

Should sleep not follow the foregoing exercises 
continue to woo Morpheus by Exercise XLII. 



EXERCISE XLII. 

Hold some thought of release from care. 

Lying in an easy position, slowly raise the arms 
as high as possible, the hands being relaxed. 
More slowly still, lower the arms letting the fin- 
gers touch the covering first, then the hand, the 
forearm, successively; last, the nerve -force is re- 
leased and the whole arm is at rest. Accompany 
the exercise with deep, slow respiration. 



Wooing Morpheus. 169 

Repeat several times, making the movement 
more slowly each time. 

This exercise is also an excellent one for nerv- 
ous people to practice at any time; it can be 
taken in a sitting as well as in a recumbent pos- 
ture. The reciprocal action between mind and 
body is evidenced by the quieting effect that five 
minutes' practice of this exercise will produce when 
one is nearly distraught with half a dozen 
perplexing things that crowd for immediate 
attention. 

The slower and more sustained any movement 
is, the greater the nerve-control. 

Many people are troubled with wakefulness in 
the night, after a short sleep has given partial 
refreshment. It then requires some determination 
to rise and to take exercises, although that is the 
only way in which some persons can obtain re- 
lief. Frequently the practice of Exercise XLII. 
will reinduce sleep; or, gently rolling the head 
from side to side at the same time taking long, 
regular breaths, may prove effectual ; or, opening 
the mouth wide with each deep inhalation and 



170 Self- Expression and Health. 

repeating the syllable "om" will often result in 
yawning and drowsiness. 

Above all, be trustful; banish apprehensions 
and misgivings. Do not let the troubles of the 
day make the night a tribulation instead of a 
benediction. To trust is to lay our burdens down, 
to relinquish our fears ; this is to relax mentally 
and physically ; then sleep comes as a tender in- 
foldment from Him who "giveth His beloved 
sleep." 



XVII. 
NERVOUSNESS-ACAUSEANDA CURE. 



LESSON TALK. 

In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength. 

—Isaiah xxx; 15. 

" TJ URRY is the devil," says an Arab proverb. 

-* A This suggests the cause of many physical 
and mental evils, of which nervousness may be 
said to be the chief. Natural functions of life, 
unnaturally performed, affect the nervous system 
unhealthfully. The voluntary functions are the 
only ones directly under our control but these, in 
turn, influence the involuntary ones; an abnor- 
mal condition of one of the former, seemingly un- 
important, may result in serious derangement of 
one or more of the latter. 

Breathing, talking, eating, walking, moving, 
resting are natural operations of life, and Ameri- 
cans, who are the most nervous people in the 



172 Self -Expression and Health. 

world, breathe, talk, eat, walk, move, and try to 
rest, in a disastrously harried manner. As one 
has said, "We do literally bang and tear our 
bodies and our brains to pieces by our hurried, 
ungoverned movements which engender frantic, 
uncontrolled thoughts. " It is a la w of physiology 
as well as of mechanics that speed is obtained at 
the expense of power. 

Dr. George M. Beard says, "Punctuality is a 
greater thief of nervous force than procrastina- 
tion is of time. We are under constant strain — 
mostly unconscious, oftentimes in sleeping as well 
as in waking hours— to get somewhere or to do 
something at some definite moment. A nervous 
man cannot take out his watch and look at it 
when the time for an appointment or a train is 
near, without affecting his pulse and the effect 
upon the pulse, if we could but measure and 
weigh it, would be found to be correlated to a 
loss to the nervous system. . . . Those who 
would relieve their nervousness may well study 
the manners of the Turks— the follower of the 
Prophet is ashamed to be in haste. " A rule simi- 
lar to that in the Turkish code is laid down for us 



Nervousness. 173 

in the declaration of the Psalmist : "He that be 
lieveth shall not make haste." 

Hurry means tension; we may move rapidly 
without tension, as in dancing or in any balanced 
action, but to hurry without tension is impossible. 

Again and again, we return to the source of all 
physical expressions, the mind. Hurry is in the 
mind first and does its worst mischief there. 
One may walk miles without fatigue if one's 
thoughts be not on the walking, and at the end 
of the journey be hardly conscious of having 
made it. Lovers in country towns stroll for 
hours on moonlight nights, and are inspirited 
rather than fatigued by the ■ exercise. But let a 
person walk some little distance, feeling a driv- 
ing necessity to reach a certain place at a certain 
time or for a certain purpose, and he will reach 
his destination worn and tired. 

Fatigue is always in exact proportion to the 
amount of nerve-force expended over and above 
the amount received during the same time, 
whether that expenditure be through the use of 
the muscles or through the use of the mind only. 
A thought may consume more force than a blow. 



174 Self-Expression and Health. 

If a person thinks he has not time sufficient for 
his purpose, the effect on his organism is similar 
to that of doing ten hours' labor in eight hours. 
An insolvent merchant goes through bankruptcy 
perhaps fifty times before making an assignment, 
and each time that he rehearses in his mind the 
anticipated failure, it has a more disastrous effect 
on himself than do the actual proceedings when 
they occur. Indeed, the common experience of 
the insolvent man when the crash has come to pass 
is one of relief. Even in a dream — a counterfeit 
and unconscious thinking — one can become phys- 
ically exhausted by visions of excited action or peril. 
It behooves us all, nervous people especially, 
to keep a watch on the thoughts ; we ruinously 
discount the present and incapacitate ourselves 
for the demands of the future, when we give 
audience to thoughts of anxiety, anger, doubt, 
fear, petulance, despondency. Every order of 
thought counts for or against us, physiologically. 
In the words of Dr. John Armstrong : 

Know, then, whatever cheerful and serene 
Supports the mind, supports the body, too, 
Hence the most vital movement mortals feel 
Is hope ; the balm and life-blood of the soul. 



Nervousness. 1 75 

[See suggestions for gaining control of the 
thoughts, in Lesson Talk on " Insomnia."] 

Guarding the words is an initiatory step 
toward controlling the thoughts. The "fa- 
miliar fret" of many nervous people is an 
irritant to body and mind. As Lilian Whiting 
says, ' ' Worry is a state of spiritual corrosion. A 
trouble either can be remedied, or it cannot be. 
If it can be, then set about it ; if it cannot be, 
dismiss it from consciousness, or bear it so bravely 
that it may become transfigured into a blessing." 

Mind being the first cause of all outward ex- 
pressions, it can readily be seen how healthful 
and helpful to all nervous and ailing persons is 
a training that leads to more reposeful states 
of mind. Psycho -physical culture does this. 
The physical and the psychical natures act and 
react upon each other ; mental states can be 
recast by such physical exercises. When one 
feels a "fit of the blues" coming on, if, instead 
of giving himself over to distorted visions and 
vague forebodings, he would try to express 
physically the lightness of spirit symbolized in 
the statue of the " Flying Mercury, " by putting 



176 Self- Expression and Health. 

his body into the same balanced, buoyant poise, 
the ' k blues " would take wings to their heels and 
fly away. Such an exercise requires a nice ad j ust- 
ment of the different members of the body, it con- 
centrates the nerve-force on the act, starts the 
circulation, affects the respiration; and these 
material changes incite new thoughts and feelings. 
Perverted emotions and morbid imaginings 
make dangerous havoc upon the mental and 
physical powers. We need to shun such 
mental profligacy as we would moral error. 
Irritableness is a mental state so closely related 
to insanity that we unconsciously recognize their 
resemblance ; it is frequently offered as an apology 
for the infliction of pain or injury by a person in 
an irritable mood, " Yes, I know she was unjust, 
but she was not responsible for what she said. " 
In this state the emotions are easily excited ; trifles 
affect one unduly; mole -hills are magnified 
into mountains; suspicion usurps the place of 
confidence; physical ailments are aggravated. 
Irritableness is largely a matter of over- wrought 
nerves, relaxation is an antidote ; it aids one in 
gaining the mastery of one's moods. 



Nervousness. 17? 

To surrender self -surveillance, to become passively 
receptive, is the first step toward getting rid of 
nervousness. The muscular abnegation attained 
through the relaxing exercises is always accom- 
panied hj—OY, more accurately speaking, is 
preceded by— a corresponding abnegation of the 
will. The will, consciously or unconsciously, is 
ever active in tension. Muscles in themselves are 
never tense ; it is the current of nerve -vibrations— 
or, as some scientists state, the aura surrounding 
the nerve-fibers — which, penetrating the muscles, 
causes them to seem tense. Subtle as this force 
is, by mental concentration and physical discipline, 
we can control it. 

Every person can cultivate the habit of com- 
pletely relaxing for two or three minutes even 
in the busiest hour of a busy day. If the busi- 
ness man at his desk, the tired mother at her 
sewing, the overwrought teacher with her pupils, 
the student in his study, would release all 
the muscles, let the head hang heavily upon 
the chest, close the eyes, and make the mind as 
nearly blank as possible, noticeable reinforce- 
ment would result. From the simple often 



178 Self -Expression and Health. 

comes the marvelous. In class, women fre- 
quently remark, after taking the relaxing 
exercises, "It is strange, but these exercises 
rest rather than tire me;" or "I feel sleepy 
when I take these exercises even though it is in 
the forenoon; if I should so relax while listen- 
ing to a lecture or a sermon, I should surely go to 
sleep." Is it not pitiable that the nerves should 
ever be kept under the whip-lash of the will until 
outraged nature can endure no more and nervous 
prostration, or worse, follows the continued 
abuse ? 

The relaxing exercises also enable one to hus- 
band the nerve-force at the centers, instead of 
dissipating it in useless muscular contractions or 
movements. The jerky, twitching movements of 
nervous people reveal an opposite state ; namely, 
weakness — lack of control at the center, and 
wasteful agitation, or tension, at the surface. St. 
Vitus's Dance is the extreme manifestation of this 
condition, but even it has been conquered by 
exercise. 

Not all nervousness, however, is manifested by 
muscular agitation. One of its most dangerous 



Nervousness. 17! J 

forms is that which might be termed unexpressed 
nervousness; it is shown forth in muscular re- 
pression instead of undue muscular activity. Re- 
pression is often followed by results more dis- 
astrous than those that come from the expressed 
irritation of the nervous system. How many 
business men, who have never acknowledged that 
they were nervous, suddenly collapse from nerv- 
ous prostration or softening of the brain! Re- 
pression of nervous irritation is like damming up 
the water of a flowing stream; the time inevi- 
tably comes when the nervous, like the watery, 
current will assert itself and break away with 
destructive violence. Natural expression is the 
unimpeded current of the nerve-stream ; relaxa- 
tion is the sluice-gate for the relief of the pres- 
sure on the nerve-dams which our perverted 
habits of life construct. 

We have need to know and to abide by the laws 
of physical economy as well as to grapple with 
the problems of domestic and political eeononi3\ 
Physical, like financial, economy must be exer- 
cised in regard to seemingly trifling outlays. 
Nervousness seldom arises from any one expendi- 



180 Self Expression and Health. 

ture but from the continued repetition of num- 
berless little extravagances. Unawares, we are 
daily creating our future physical conditions. 
Besides acquiring the power to relax, we need to 
have a wise and economical guidance of the 
nerve-force in action. Exercises for harmony of 
movement (see Outline for General Practice, 
Chapter I. ) produce an effect, at once restful and 
invigorating to the system ; when one is nervous 
or irritated, a few minutes' practice of these 
rhythmical movements is like " pouring oil upon 
troubled waters." 

By continued practice, quiet, conserving move- 
ments become habitual, become a part of one's 
self. Not only can unbalanced nervous conditions 
be overcome, but every woman in her movements 
can manifest repose — which Ruskin calls ' ' the 
most unfailing type of beauty." This beauty 
never belongs to nervous people; were they re- 
poseful they would no longer be nervous, for the 
two states are direct opposites and can form no 
co-partnership. 

In this age of unrest many people wear them- 
selves out needlessly; sometimes well-intentioned 



Nervousness. 181 

motives may prompt erroneous action, and con- 
science become a tyrant. An exaggerated sense 
of duty leads many a woman to anxious, ceaseless 
activity; she feels that she must constantly be 
doing something, thinks that idleness is sinful — 
idleness, that Landor calls "sweet and sacred." 
Suggestive are the words of our poet-philosopher, 
Emerson : 

Shun passion; fold the hands of thrift: 

Sit still—and truth is near. 



XVIII. 

EXPRESSION: REPRESSION. 



LESSON TALK. 

A man's body and his mind (with the utmost reverence 
to both, I speak it) are exactly like a jerkin and a jerkin's 
lining— rumple the one. you rumple the other. 

—Laurence Stone. 

A PLEA for self-expression is only a plea for 
-*~* truth, sincerity, naturalness. Convention- 
ality has much to answer for in the subjection of 
women to false standards. Society has said, and 
some fashionable "Finishing (?) Schools for 
Young Ladies " still say, that culture consists in 
repression, not expression; that it admits of no 
enthusiasm, no spontaneity, no show of feeling ; 
these are "bad form" not to say "vulgar." Con- 
formity to such standards robs people of individ- 
uality and naturalness. It dwarfs the mind, 
checks the sympathies, restricts the physical re- 
sources and narrows the life. Clearly, the true 
development of the powers of youth or of adults, 



Expression : Repression. 183 

in or out of school, cannot be achieved through 
repression. 

Self expression is the very genius of any edu- 
cation that educates ; the kindergarten philosophy 
recognizes the importance of it. Froebel's aim 
was to arouse and to call into activity all the 
latent faculties of the child through self-expres- 
sion. Men and women are but children of larger 
experience and many, lacking facility in self-ex- 
pression, have powers not only una wakened but 
unsuspected. ' ' Man knows himself only so far as he 
makes himself objective." Self-expression is not 
only the great word with Froebel, but it is the word 
of natural development throughout the universe. 

When development of faculties through expres- 
sion is spoken of in this book, let it be remem- 
bered that expression of an inner state always is 
implied ; not the assuming, by imitation, of outer 
signs which sometimes passes for expression and 
elocution teaching. Mr. S. H. Clark, the emi- 
nent teacher and reader, says: ''Assuming the 
externals of an emotion will never call up an 
emotion that has not at some time been experi- 
enced." 



184 Self -Expression and Health. 

Expression develops faculties as exercise de- 
velops muscles. By the expression of any senti- 
ment, as hope or despondency, either by word or 
action, or by both, a quickening influence is ex- 
erted upon the faculty from which that sentiment 
arises. Nerve -cells that have once acted in a cer- 
tain mode tend to further action in the same way ; 
habit is born of this inherent tendency toward 
repetition. A person can encourage bad impulses 
by giving expression to them, until repetition 
forms bad habit and such habit becomes vice. 
Allow a giri habitually to express carelessness 
diffidence, self-abasement, disdain or arrogance 
by her physical bearing, and corresponding moral 
weeds are planted in her nature. 

Likewise, higher expression culture becomes 
higher character building. If a boy in whom in- 
herent vicious tendencies are apparent were led to 
outwardly express by words, tones and actions, 
the sentiments of kindness, courage, love, gentle- 
ness, self-respect, heroism, reverence — such ex- 
pression necessarily implying that some degree of 
those sentiments had been first awakened in his 
mind— for some time each day during the years 



j i / -ess io 1 1 : Rep ress ion. 

of his early development, would not the effe 
to stimulate into healthful action those faculties 
of his nature to which these sentiments were re- 
lated ? Such expression culture would cause him 
to do, to say, to think and, it is believed, at last, 
habitually to feel, worthy things. This would be 
true education; it would awaken new thoughts 
and feelings ; it would change the individual by 
calling into action his latent powers. 

But some may ask would not such training be 
repression of the seemingly natural inclinations 
of the boy; or, is it judicious to prevent the ex- 
pression of bad qualities ? It is believed that 
direct repression is never wholesome, morally or 
physically, in its final results. Fear or restraint 
never really reformed a person ; such repression 
is a • • prohibition that does not prohibit. " Self-ex- 
pression culture would not repress nor merely hold 
in abeyance the bad tendencies of a child ; it would 
supplant them with something better: it would 
1 ' overcome evil with good. '' As Truth is brought to 
the consciousness of any person, evil and error drop 
away as darkness disappears when light appears. 

Psycho-physical discipline is necessary to over- 



1S6 Self -Expression and Health. 

come a had habit ; new nerve-paths must be made 
in brain and in body. If, by a conscious act of the 
will, a person thinks and expresses courage 
enough times, he will gain the ability to instan- 
taneously call up the antecedent condition of 
courage — to feel courageous ; thus by a psycholog- 
ical law one may become master of his moods. 

As expression develops so repression dwarfs. 
Thoughts, emotions, passions, that are unex- 
pressed, unrecognized by their kindred in other 
men, and that are not reflected back to strengthen 
their source, deprive the faculties of their just 
education ; worse, positive mischief, physical and 
mental, is wrought by such repression. To inhibit 
an emotion consumes more nerve-force than the 
expression of the same emotion would require; 
loss of exercise weakens the organs of expression, 
and the pent-up force works on the inner man, 
unhealthily. There is malformation within and 
decay without. The twisted and tortured shapes 
of trees obstructed in their natural growth typify 
the condition of such repressed faculties. The 
recluse in his life of repression grows morbid in 
nature, his muscles become flaccid, his eye dull, 



Expression : Repression. 187 

his face unmeaning. Solitary confinement brings 
imbecility or physical deformity, or both; it is 
self suppression and ''that way madness lies." 

What is true of great emotions is true in de- 
gree of ordinary ones. People are impoverished 
in their vocabularies of feeling by too little, or 
the wrong, use of the organs of expression. 
They go through life misjudged, unappreciated 
and unhappy, because the real self is imprisoned. 

The entire body must be made respondent if we 
would give all thoughts and emotions truthful 
representation. The training of isolated mem- 
bers, as for special or technical purposes, is inad- 
equate. In tuning a piano, harmony is not es- 
tablished until the last string or part is adjusted. 
So with our bodily instrument, all parts must be 
in harmonious relation to one another. This se- 
cures unity, and unity of action signifies equilib- 
rium, freedom, beauty. 

The higher the emotion, the more complex and 
refined the motion that expresses it; the passion of 
hatred is expressed in simple, straight lines such 
as are used in fighting, while to express love re- 
quires the double curve or the spiral. Destruc- 



1SS Self- Expression and Health. 

tion is always easier and uglier than construction. 
Who has not felt his inability to express his 
worthiest impulses, and recognized the aggrava- 
ting facility of expression which the unworthy 
ones have ? Is there not an ethical need of an ex- 
pression culture that shall free man from the in- 
fluence of ages of repression and that shall aid 
him to spontaneously express his best self ? 

By some it may be claimed that there are no 
laws of expression by which the powers of man 
can be disciplined and developed; that any at- 
tempt to improve man in expression must fail; 
that each person should express all thoughts and 
feelings in his own untutored way. Were every 
person in normal condition, were his human in- 
strument in tune and responsive to the touch of 
its master — the soul — then, indeed, expression 
culture except for special purposes would not be 
needed. But we are so far from that harmonious 
state, our bodies are so starched and incrusted in 
unnatural habits— the results of repression, ten- 
sion, heredity and false standards — that our un- 
taught way of expression is not Nature's way. 
Thus, in our so-called natural expression we are 



Expression : Repression. 189 

often unnatural, untrue to ourselves, and we be- 
come incapable of expressing our perceptions and 
conceptions. It is needful to have the organism 
trained to a pliable, obedient and responsive condi- 
tion, so that all the infinite variety of the individual 
character may find its ready and true expression. 

There is no possibility that expression culture 
can reduce all persons to dull uniformity or ex- 
tinguish individuality in expression. If this could 
be done, it would imply that man is like a hand 
organ where not only the manner of expression 
is mechanically adjusted but, likewise, all that is 
to be expressed; the intellect, the soul, would 
count for nothing. On the contrary, the body is 
merely the medium of expression. It is to the 
real man what a piano is to a musician ; be it ever 
so fine and so well-tuned, it can only express 
what he feels. The more harmonious the body, 
the more natural and varied will be the expression. 

In every kingdom there is unity, but not uni- 
formity, of form and function ; everywhere meth- 
od and law are seen. Human nature could no 
more have been created devoid of method and 
law than could any other department of nature. 



190 Self- Expression and Health. 

The physical organism obeys the laws of the 
pendulum, of gravitation, of hydrostatics, of 
light, of sound and of all the fixed principles of 
physics; the operations of digestion, of assimila- 
tion, of purification of the blood, are chemical. 

Is it too much to ask of Science that she shall 
interpret the gestures, attitudes, bearings, tones 
and inflections of man, and disclose the laws by 
which these expressions represent the faculties, 
nay, more, how the thoughts, passions and emo- 
tions can be influenced? This is a part of the 
study of psychology upon which the scientific 
world is just entering. It is believed that psycho- 
physical culture, based upon the Laws of Expres- 
sion formulated by Francois Delsarte, will con- 
tribute to this knowledge. 

The primary exercises outlined in this little 
book are of necessity corrective rather than edu- 
cational. Even in these, whenever it has been 
possible, the motion has been related to an emo- 
tion ; the attitude of the body to the attitude of 
the mind. There are no limitations to progress 
in this culture, for expression is as varied and as 
comprehensive as life. 



XIX. 

SUGGESTIONS TO THE SICK AND 
OTHERS. 



The soul will not know either deformity or pain. We 
interfere with the optimism of Nature; we are begirt with 
laws which execute themselves. 

— Emerson. 

T T EALTH and Self -Expression culture is more 
-*■ A immediately helpful to persons who are 
ailing than to others ; while it enables those who 
are well to remain so, it aids the sick in regaining 
health. 

All inharmonies — and sickness is an inharmony 
— are caused by violations of law. We strictly 
obey civil or man-made laws but recklessly trans- 
gress the natural laws of our being which are of 
divine origin. A right use or operation of any 
part of the body is painless; a wrong use or opera- 
tion is painful or will become so, sooner or later. 
Learning the right use of our bodies and gaining 



192 Self-Eocpression and Health. 

an intelligent guidance of the nerve-force puts us 
in sympathy with the " optimism of Nature." 



Dr. James H. Salisbury, the eminent microsco- 
pist, says : ' ' Improper expenditure of nerve-force 
hastens and assists in maintaining unhealthy 
states. " This expenditure is made not so much in 
overdoing, as in the manner of any doing. Tension 
is the universal physical spendthrift. It is be- 
lieved that the chapters on "Relaxation, Recep- 
tivity, Recuperation," "Insomnia," and "Nervous- 
ness" will be specially helpful to the sick. 

One of my pupils, a physician who had himself 
been a victim of nervous prostration, writes: 
1 ' The relaxing exercises furnish the only natural 
nervine." It is not claimed that the relaxing- 
exercises in themselves strengthen the nerves, as 
a nervine is supposed to do ; they do, however, 
expressly save the nerve -force of the body, and 
they remove the obstructive condition — tension — 
that prevents the harmonious inflow and operation 
of the only direct nourishment of the nerves; 
namely, the vital energy. This recuperative force 
penetrates back of and beyond all pathological 



Suggestions to tlie Sick. 193 

conditions ; this it is that repairs the broken bone, 
that replenishes the exhausted brain and body, 
and that cures all diseases. 



We should never consider ourselves a fixed 
structure. Change is the law of life. Man's 
entire body is now believed to be renewed in much 
less than the proverbial seven years; if the tissues 
of the body are changed, so all conditions can be. 
We should not recognize limitations, for no one 
can estimate what he can do, or may become, until 
he works in sympathy with nature. 



Some may sigh, "Oh, I haven't strength or 
patience to do any exercise; it would tire my 
mind." Any simple, well-directed exercise would 
not be as wearing as one's morbid thoughts of 
regret or self-pity, and such exercise would be- 
come the direct means of gaining more strength. 

Of all persons, invalids most need to guard 
against the habit of introspection; they should 
rouse the imagination, get in sympathy with 
things outside of themselves, broaden their 
horizon. A gymnastic is an effective means to 



194 Self -Expression and Health. 

this end, for by it one can come to look on himself 
as if it were not himself; he can become interested 
in the exercise and, even while doing it, not think 
of self at all. Thus, there is the physical benefit 
accruing from the exercise, plus this more subtile 
victory over self. 

All who are able to walk can, by being judi- 
cious, gradually take all of the exercises in this 
book. 



Full, deep breathing is excellent exercise for the 
sick. So beneficial is this mode of treatment that 
I wonder we do not hear of "breathing resorts." 
Respiratory exercises are helpful not only specifi- 
cally, as in cases of weak lungs, but they have 
a constitutional, effect; they are the universal 
tonic treatment. Some of the main purposes of 
exercises are to quicken the circulation, and to in- 
crease the digestive and excretory processes; 
respiratory exercises secure those results and also 
strengthen the abdominal muscles. If every 
invalid who reads these pages would practice 
Exercise XVII. in pure air, for five minutes, three 



Suggestions to the Sick. 195 

times a day for three weeks, a general if not a 
local improvement would be realized. 



Relaxing exercises, instead of consuming 

strength, conserve it. Some of the simplest of 
these exercises, such as relaxing the eyelids, the 
lower jaw, the shoulders, the arms, can be practiced 
with very little effort. A person confined to his 
bed can gain marked control of the nerve -force by 
resting one elbow on something and holding the 
forearm, the hand and the fingers in a vertical 
line : then let only the fingers fall ; lift them and 
let them fall again and again until the weight of 
them can be sensed; then let the hand fall but not 
the forearm; finally, the forearm. Even these 
exercises will produce a restful effect as soon as 
any degree of relaxation is attained. 



Nervous persons sometimes declare that relax- 
ing exercises make them tense ; this is as absurd 
as to say that eating makes a man hungry. Not 
infrequently relaxing exercises make a person 
idealize for the first time how tense he is, for pow- 
erful and prevalent as tension is, it is but little 



196 Self- Expression and Health. 

recognized or understood even by those who are 
in bondage to it. To become conscious of the ten- 
sion in one's body, albeit in itself unpleasant, is a 
great gain. We can no more rid ourselves of this 
suicidal physical habit before we are conscious of 
its existence, than we can overcome any other er- 
ror of which we are unaware. 



The nervous system is much wrought upon by 
a wrong use of the voice. How many teachers 
and public speakers first feel fatigue in the throat ! 
Talking should no more tire the throat than it 
tires the tongue. Releasing the neck and the 
throat from tension decreases the fatigue, pre- 
vents irritation of the throat and makes the voice 
pleasanter in quality. A repressed or a high- 
pitched voice speaks from nerves that are taut. 
The quality of the tone often reveals more than 
the words do ; words express the thought or the 
mental attitude, the quality of tone expresses the 
feeling or the emotive attitude. George Macdon- 
ald says, "How little men think, alas ! of the duty 
that lies in tone I " 

Self -Expression and Health culture in its entirety 



Suggestions to the Sick. 197 

treats extensively of the voice; tones and words 
are two thirds of man's expression vocabulary, 
bodily movements are the other third. 



We should take a few minutes' exercise as reg- 
ularly as we take a morning bath. Perfection of 
execution comes only by repetition; new delights 
can daily be found in the practice of any exercise 
that develops refinement of muscular sense, nerve- 
control and unity of movement, In proportion to 
the precision, ease and harmony acquired will be 
one's enjoyment of the exercises. In harmonious 
movements there is no tension and the nerve vibra- 
tions are free and rhythmical ; hence the reaction- 
ary, uplifting effect. 



Muscular development alone is insufficient 
also is relaxation alone. Extremes are always 
weak. Dr Winship, who by training increased 
his muscular strength so that he could lift over 
2,500 pounds, died of nervous prostration. In this 
book much emphasis has been laid upon the re- 
laxing exercises, because they meet the first need 
of many persons in this too intense age; but they 



198 Self- Expression and Health. 

are not all that is necessary. No form of phys- 
ical culture can be educationally complete that 
does not include exercises for relaxation, for ener- 
gization and for harmony of movement. 



Psycho-physical culture will not lead to satis- 
faction with one's self ; it will, rather, provoke the 
" divine discontent" that leads to all high en- 
deavor, to all growth. Browning says : 

" Let us cry, 'All good tilings 
Are ours, nor soul helps flesh, more now. than flesh helps 
soul. 1 " 



EXPLANATORY NOTE. 

Emerson in speaking of Plato says, "It is fair 
to credit the broadest generalizer with all the par- 
ticulars deducible from his thesis." It is fair to 
credit Francois Delsarte with much of the teach- 
ing in this little volume, for while the application 
and the letter have been changed, the principles 
and spirit are in accord with the most authentic 
records of this great man's work. Because the 
teaching herein relates more to health than to 
art, more to man's habitual expression than to 
dramatic expression, the term "Americanized" 
has been used. 

The expansion of Delsarte's formulations was 
the inevitable result of their introduction into 
this country. The first instinct of the Amer- 
ican mind is to make practical and to popularize 
whatever seems good and true. By American- 
ized Delsarte culture, then, is meant the Delsarte 
art of expression, so broadened, as to be of general 
benefit to all persons, instead of being only of 



200 Self- Expression and Health. 

special benefit to one class— artists. Experience 
has proven that where one person is interested in 
"art for art's sake," one hundred are interested in 
health for health's and humanity's sake; by 
making prominent the utilitarian value of this 
culture, it is possible to bring the ' ' greatest good 
to the greatest number." 

In answer to many inquiries for information re- 
garding Delsarte's life, I here insert from John- 
son's "Universal Cyclopedia" part of a sketch 
written by me for that publication : 

Delsarte, Frangois: musician and investigator; 
born at Solesmes, France, Dec. 19, 1811. He was 
the son of a physician, but was early orphaned, 
and became a ragpicker in Paris ; at the age of 
twelve he devised an original method of musical 
notation which attracted the attention of the mu- 
sician Bambini, who adopted and educated him ; 
he was admitted to the Conservatoire when four- 
teen, but, owing to pernicious training, his voice 
failed; forced to abandon the lyric stage, he be- 
came a teacher and an investigator. For about 
forty years he studied all phases of human na- 
ture and its expression, seeking a natural and 
scientific basis for all art, especially for orator- 



Explanatory Note. 201 

ical, musical and dramatic expression. Leading 
artists, orators and philosophers sought his in- 
struction. The King of Hanover conferred upon 
him the Hanoverian medal of arts and sciences, 
also the cross of a chevalier of the Guelph order. 
Fearing "unripe publicity," he would not permit 
the results of his researches to be published ; the 
only records of his work are charts of his formu- 
lations and fragmentary writings. Although his 
philosophy lives mainly in tradition, it has be- 
come the acknowledged basis of the highest art 
criticism and culture. Died in Paris, July 19, 
1871. 



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